Job

Chapter 35

1 Elihu spoke again and said,

2 Do you think it’s right to say, “I am more righteous than God”?

3 You said, “What benefit will it be to you?” and, “What will I gain if I am cleansed from my sin?”

4 I will answer you and your friends too.

5 Look up at the sky and see; look at the clouds so high above you.

6 If you sin, what do you do against God? Or if your sins increase, what do you do to Him?

7 If you are good, what do you give to God? Or what does He get from what you have?

8 Your evil can harm someone like you; your good deeds can help people.

9 Because of many harsh acts, the victims cry out; they call for help because of the power of the strong.

10 But no one asks, ‘Where is God my creator, who provides songs at night?’

11 Who teaches us more than the animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?

12 They call out for help, but no one answers, because of the arrogance of wicked people.

13 God will not listen to emptiness, nor will the Almighty consider it.

14 Even if you say you can’t see God, he is still the one to judge; so you should trust in him.

15 But now, God has come in anger because it’s not as it should be; yet he doesn’t realize how harsh it is.

16 So Job speaks without reason; he talks a lot but without understanding.