Job 32-35

Job 32

¹So these three men gave no more answers to Job, because he seemed to himself to be right.

²And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was angry, burning with wrath against Job, because he seemed to himself more right than God;

³And he was angry with his three friends, because they had been unable to give him an answer, and had not made Job's sin clear.

⁴Now Elihu had kept quiet while Job was talking, because they were older than he;

⁵And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, he was very angry.

⁶And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, made answer and said, I am young, and you are very old, so I was in fear, and kept myself from putting my knowledge before you.

⁷I said to myself, It is right for the old to say what is in their minds, and for those who are far on in years to give out wisdom.

⁸But truly it is the spirit in man, even the breath of the Ruler of all, which gives them knowledge.

⁹It is not the old who are wise, and those who are full of years have not the knowledge of what is right.

¹⁰So I say, Give ear to me, and I will put forward my knowledge.

¹¹I was waiting for your words, I was giving ear to your wise sayings; while you were searching out what to say,

¹²I was taking note; and truly not one of you was able to make clear Job's error, or to give an answer to his words.

¹³Take care that you do not say, Wisdom is here; God may overcome him, but not man.

¹⁴I will not put forward words like these, or make use of your sayings in answer to him.

¹⁵Fear has overcome them, they have no more answers to give; they have come to an end of words.

¹⁶And am I to go on waiting while they have nothing to say? while they keep quiet and give no more answers?

¹⁷I will give my answer; I will put forward my knowledge:

¹⁸For I am full of words, I am unable to keep in my breath any longer:

¹⁹My stomach is like wine which is unable to get out; like skins full of new wine, it is almost burst.

²⁰Let me say what is in my mind, so that I may get comfort; let me give answer with open mouth.

²¹Let me not give respect to any man, or give names of honour to any living.

²²For I am not able to give names of honour to any man; and if I did, my Maker would quickly take me away.

Job 33

¹And now, O Job, give ear to my words, and take note of all I say.

²See, now my mouth is open, my tongue gives out words.

³My heart is overflowing with knowledge, my lips say what is true.

⁴The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Ruler of all gives me life.

⁵If you are able, give me an answer; put your cause in order, and come forward.

⁶See, I am the same as you are in the eyes of God; I was cut off from the same bit of wet earth.

⁷Fear of me will not overcome you, and my hand will not be hard on you.

⁸But you said in my hearing, and your voice came to my ears:

⁹I am clean, without sin; I am washed, and there is no evil in me:

¹⁰See, he is looking for something against me; in his eyes I am as one of his haters;

¹¹He puts chains on my feet; he is watching all my ways.

¹²Truly, in saying this you are wrong; for God is greater than man.

¹³Why do you put forward your cause against him, saying, He gives no answer to any of my words?

¹⁴For God gives his word in one way, even in two, and man is not conscious of it:

¹⁵In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep comes on men, while they take their rest on their beds;

¹⁶Then he makes his secrets clear to men, so that they are full of fear at what they see;

¹⁷In order that man may be turned from his evil works, and that pride may be taken away from him;

¹⁸To keep back his soul from the underworld, and his life from destruction.

¹⁹Pain is sent on him as a punishment, while he is on his bed; there is no end to the trouble in his bones;

²⁰He has no desire for food, and his soul is turned away from delicate meat;

²¹His flesh is so wasted away, that it may not be seen, and his bones. ...

²²And his soul comes near to the underworld, and his life to the angels of death.

²³If now there may be an angel sent to him, one of the thousands which there are to be between him and God, and to make clear to man what is right for him;

²⁴And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life:

²⁵Then his flesh becomes young again, and he comes back to the days of his early strength;

²⁶He makes his prayer to God, and he has mercy on him; he sees God's face with cries of joy; he gives news of his righteousness to men;

²⁷He makes a song, saying, I did wrong, turning from the straight way, but he did not give me the reward of my sin.

²⁸He kept my soul from the underworld, and my life sees the light in full measure.

²⁹Truly, God does all these things to man, twice and three times,

³⁰Keeping back his soul from the underworld, so that he may see the light of life.

³¹Take note O Job, give ear to me; keep quiet, while I say what is in my mind.

³²If you have anything to say, give me an answer; for it is my desire that you may be judged free from sin.

³³If not, give attention to me, and keep quiet, and I will give you wisdom.

Job 34

¹And Elihu made answer and said,

²Give ear, you wise, to my words; and you who have knowledge, give attention to me;

³For words are tested by the ear, as food is tasted by the mouth.

⁴Let us make the decision for ourselves as to what is right; let us have the knowledge among ourselves of what is good.

⁵For Job has said, I am upright, and it is God who has taken away my right;

⁶Though I am right, still I am in pain; my wound may not be made well, though I have done no wrong.

⁷What man is like Job, a man who freely makes sport of God,

⁸And goes in the company of evil-doers, walking in the way of sinners?

⁹For he has said, It is no profit to a man to take delight in God.

¹⁰Now then, you wise, take note; you men of knowledge, give ear to me. Let it be far from God to do evil, and from the Ruler of all to do wrong.

¹¹For he gives to every man the reward of his work, and sees that he gets the fruit of his ways.

¹²Truly, God does not do evil, and the Ruler of all is not a false judge.

¹³Who put the earth into his care, or made him responsible for the world?

¹⁴If he made his spirit come back to him, taking his breath into himself again,

¹⁵All flesh would come to an end together, and man would go back to the dust.

¹⁶If you are wise, take note of this; give ear to the voice of my words.

¹⁷How may a hater of right be a ruler? and will you say that the upright Ruler of all is evil?

¹⁸He who says to a king, You are an evil-doer; and to rulers, You are sinners;

¹⁹Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.

²⁰Suddenly they come to an end, even in the middle of the night: the blow comes on the men of wealth, and they are gone, and the strong are taken away without the hand of man.

²¹For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps.

²²There is no dark place, and no thick cloud, in which the workers of evil may take cover.

²³For he does not give man a fixed time to come before him to be judged.

²⁴He sends the strong to destruction without searching out their cause, and puts others in their place.

²⁵For he has knowledge of their works, overturning them in the night, so that they are crushed.

²⁶The evil-doers are broken by his wrath, he puts his hand on them with force before the eyes of all onlookers.

²⁷Because they did not go after him, and took no note of his ways,

²⁸So that the cry of the poor might come up to him, and the prayer of those in need come to his ears.

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³⁴Men of knowledge, and all wise men, hearing me, will say,

³⁵Job's words do not come from knowledge; they are not the fruit of wisdom.

³⁶May Job be tested to the end, because his answers have been like those of evil men.

³⁷For in addition to his sin, he is uncontrolled in heart; before our eyes he makes sport of God, increasing his words against him.

Job 35

¹And Elihu made answer and said,

²Does it seem to you to be right, and righteousness before God, to say,

³What profit is it to me, and how am I better off than if I had done wrong?

⁴I will make answer to you and to your friends:

⁵Let your eyes be turned to the heavens, and lifted up to see the skies; they are higher than you.

⁶If you have done wrong, is he any the worse for it? and if your sins are great in number, what is it to him?

⁷If you are upright, what do you give to him? or what does he take from your hand?

⁸Your evil-doing may have an effect on a man like yourself, or your righteousness on a son of man.

⁹Because the hand of the cruel is hard on them, men are making sounds of grief; they are crying out for help because of the arm of the strong.

¹⁰But no one has said, Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night;

¹¹Who gives us more knowledge than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the heaven?

¹²There they are crying out because of the pride of the evil-doers, but he gives them no answer.

¹³But God will not give ear to what is false, or the Ruler of all take note of it;

¹⁴How much less when you say that you do not see him; that the cause is before him, and you are waiting for him.

¹⁵And now ... ;

¹⁶And Job's mouth is open wide to give out what is of no profit, increasing words without knowledge.