| 1 | And Eli'hu said: |
| 2 | "Do you think this to be just? Do you say, `It is my right before God,' |
| 3 | that you ask, `What advantage have I? How am I better off than if I had sinned?' |
| 4 | I will answer you and your friends with you. |
| 5 | Look at the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds, which are higher than you. |
| 6 | If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? |
| 7 | If you are righteous, what do you give to him; or what does he receive from your hand? |
| 8 | Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself, and your righteousness a son of man. |
| 9 | "Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty. |
| 10 | But none says, `Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, |
| 11 | who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?' |
| 12 | There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. |
| 13 | Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it. |
| 14 | How much less when you say that you do not see him, that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him! |
| 15 | And now, because his anger does not punish, and he does not greatly heed transgression, |
| 16 | Job opens his mouth in empty talk, he multiplies words without knowledge." |
| 1 | And Eli'hu continued, and said: |
| 2 | "Bear with me a little, and I will show you, for I have yet something to say on God's behalf. |
| 3 | I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and ascribe righteousness to my Maker. |
| 4 | For truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you. |
| 5 | "Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength of understanding. |
| 6 | He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives the afflicted their right. |
| 7 | He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings upon the throne he sets them for ever, and they are exalted. |
| 8 | And if they are bound in fetters and caught in the cords of affliction, |
| 9 | then he declares to them their work and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly. |
| 10 | He opens their ears to instruction, and commands that they return from iniquity. |
| 11 | If they hearken and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness. |
| 12 | But if they do not hearken, they perish by the sword, and die without knowledge. |
| 13 | "The godless in heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them. |
| 14 | They die in youth, and their life ends in shame. |
| 15 | He delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and opens their ear by adversity. |
| 16 | He also allured you out of distress into a broad place where there was no cramping, and what was set on your table was full of fatness. |
| 17 | "But you are full of the judgment on the wicked; judgment and justice seize you. |
| 18 | Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing; and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside. |
| 19 | Will your cry avail to keep you from distress, or all the force of your strength? |
| 20 | Do not long for the night, when peoples are cut off in their place. |
| 21 | Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, for this you have chosen rather than affliction. |
| 22 | Behold, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him? |
| 23 | Who has prescribed for him his way, or who can say, `Thou hast done wrong'? |
| 24 | "Remember to extol his work, of which men have sung. |
| 25 | All men have looked on it; man beholds it from afar. |
| 26 | Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable. |
| 27 | For he draws up the drops of water, he distils his mist in rain |
| 28 | which the skies pour down, and drop upon man abundantly. |
| 29 | Can any one understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion? |
| 30 | Behold, he scatters his lightning about him, and covers the roots of the sea. |
| 31 | For by these he judges peoples; he gives food in abundance. |
| 32 | He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark. |
| 33 | Its crashing declares concerning him, who is jealous with anger against iniquity. |
