Day 244 of 365

¹Moreover Elihu answered,

²"Hear my words, you wise men. Give ear to me, you who have knowledge.

³For the ear tries words, as the palate tastes food.

⁴Let us choose for us that which is right. Let us know among ourselves what is good.

⁵For Job has said, 'I am righteous, God has taken away my right:

⁶Notwithstanding my right I am considered a liar. My wound is incurable, though I am without disobedience.'

⁷What man is like Job, who drinks scorn like water,

⁸Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, and walks with wicked men?

⁹For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.'

¹⁰"Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness, from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.

¹¹For the work of a man he will render to him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.

¹²Yes surely, God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert justice.

¹³Who put him in charge of the earth? or who has appointed him over the whole world?

¹⁴If he set his heart on himself, If he gathered to himself his spirit and his breath,

¹⁵all flesh would perish together, and man would turn again to dust.

¹⁶"If now you have understanding, hear this. Listen to the voice of my words.

¹⁷Shall even one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty?-

¹⁸Who says to a king, 'Vile!' or to nobles, 'Wicked!'?

¹⁹Who doesn't respect the persons of princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.

²⁰In a moment they die, even at midnight. The people are shaken and pass away. The mighty are taken away without a hand.

²¹"For his eyes are on the ways of a man. He sees all his goings.

²²There is no darkness, nor thick gloom, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

²³For he doesn't need to consider a man further, that he should go before God in judgment.

²⁴He breaks in pieces mighty men in ways past finding out, and sets others in their place.

²⁵Therefore he takes knowledge of their works. He overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed.

²⁶He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others;

²⁷because they turned aside from following him, and wouldn't pay attention to any of his ways,

²⁸so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him. He heard the cry of the afflicted.

²⁹When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? Alike whether to a nation, or to a man,

³⁰that the godless man may not reign, that there be no one to ensnare the people.

³¹"For has any said to God, 'I am guilty, but I will not offend any more.

³²Teach me that which I do not see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more'?

³³Shall his recompense be as you desire, that you refuse it? For you must choose, and not I. Therefore speak what you know.

³⁴Men of understanding will tell me, yes, every wise man who hears me:

³⁵'Job speaks without knowledge. His words are without wisdom.'

³⁶I wish that Job were tried to the end, because of his answering like wicked men.

³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin. He claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God."

¹Moreover Elihu answered,

²"Do you think this to be your right, or do you say, 'My righteousness is more than God's,'

³That you ask, 'What advantage will it be to you? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?'

⁴I will answer you, and your companions with you.

⁵Look to the heavens, and see. See the skies, which are higher than you.

⁶If you have sinned, what effect do you have against him? If your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give him? Or what does he receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness may hurt a man as you are, and your righteousness may profit a son of man.

⁹"By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out. They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty.

¹⁰But none says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,

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

¹²There they cry, but none gives answer, because of the pride of evil men.

¹³Surely God will not hear an empty cry, neither will the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴How much less when you say you do not see him. The cause is before him, and you wait for him!

¹⁵But now, because he has not visited in his anger, neither does he greatly regard arrogance.

¹⁶Therefore Job opens his mouth with empty talk, and he multiplies words without knowledge."

¹Elihu also continued, and said,

²"Bear with me a little, and I will show you; for I still have something to say on God's behalf.

³I will get my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

⁴For truly my words are not false. One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵"Behold, God is mighty, and doesn't despise anyone. He is mighty in strength of understanding.

⁶He doesn't preserve the life of the wicked, but gives to the afflicted their right.

⁷He doesn't withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne, he sets them forever, and they are exalted.

⁸If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions,

⁹then he shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly.

¹⁰He also opens their ears to instruction, and commands that they return from iniquity.

¹¹If they listen and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

¹²But if they do not listen, they shall perish by the sword; they shall die without knowledge.

¹³"But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They do not cry for help when he binds them.

¹⁴They die in youth. Their life perishes among the unclean.

¹⁵He delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and opens their ear in oppression.

¹⁶Yes, he would have allured you out of distress, into a broad place, where there is no restriction. That which is set on your table would be full of fatness.

¹⁷"But you are full of the judgment of the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold of you.

¹⁸Do not let riches entice you to wrath, neither let the great size of a bribe turn you aside.

¹⁹Would your wealth sustain you in distress, or all the might of your strength?

²⁰Do not desire the night, when people are cut off in their place.

²¹Take heed, do not regard iniquity; for you have chosen this rather than affliction.

²²Behold, God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?

²³Who has prescribed his way for him? Or who can say, 'You have committed unrighteousness?'

²⁴"Remember that you magnify his work, whereof men have sung.

²⁵All men have looked thereon. Man sees it afar off.

²⁶Behold, God is great, and we do not know him. The number of his years is unsearchable.

²⁷For he draws up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor,

²⁸Which the skies pour down and which drop on man abundantly.

²⁹Yes, can any understand the spreading of the clouds, and the thunderings of his pavilion?

³⁰Behold, he spreads his light around him. He covers the bottom of the sea.

³¹For by these he judges the people. He gives food in abundance.

³²He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.

³³Its noise tells about him, and the livestock also concerning the storm that comes up.

¹Lord, you God to whom vengeance belongs, you God to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth.

²Rise up, you judge of the earth. Pay back the proud what they deserve.

³Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph?

⁴They pour out arrogant words. All the evildoers boast.

⁵They break your people in pieces, Lord, and afflict your heritage.

⁶They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless.

⁷They say, "Yah will not see, neither will Jacob's God consider."

⁸Consider, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you be wise?

⁹He who implanted the ear, won't he hear? He who formed the eye, won't he see?

¹⁰He who disciplines the nations, won't he punish? He who teaches man knows.

¹¹The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

¹²Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, and teach out of your Law;

¹³that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.

¹⁴For the Lord won't reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

¹⁵For judgment will return to righteousness. All the upright in heart shall follow it.

¹⁶Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?

¹⁷Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would have soon lived in silence.

¹⁸When I said, "My foot is slipping!" Your loving kindness, Lord, held me up.

¹⁹In the multitude of my thoughts within me, your comforts delight my soul.

²⁰Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute?

²¹They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

²²But the Lord has been my high tower, my God, the rock of my refuge.

²³He has brought on them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness. The Lord, our God, will cut them off.

¹Do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

²Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool's provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend; although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

⁷A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.

⁹Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man's friend.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend. Do not go to your brother's house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.

¹²A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

¹³Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!

¹⁴He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.

¹⁵A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:

¹⁶restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend's countenance.

¹⁸Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.

¹⁹As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man's eyes are never satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.

²³Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds:

²⁴for riches are not forever, nor does even the crown endure to all generations.

²⁵The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in.

²⁶The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.

²⁷There will be plenty of goats' milk for your food, for your family's food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.