Elihu has stood up to judge Job’s case and adjudicate between Job and his friends. Today we will read the middle section of his verdict.

34:1 Elihu answered:
2 “Listen to my words, you wise men;
hear me, you learned men.
3 For the ear assesses words
as the mouth tastes food.
4 Let us evaluate for ourselves what is right;
let us come to know among ourselves what is good.
5 For Job says, ‘I am innocent,
but God turns away my right.
6 Concerning my right, should I lie?
My wound is incurable,
although I am without transgression.’
7 Who is there like Job,
who drinks derision like water?
8 He goes about in company with evildoers;
he goes along with wicked men.
9 For he says, ‘It does not profit a man
when he makes his delight with God.’

10 “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God to do wickedness,
from the Almighty to do evil.
11 For he repays a person for his work,
and according to the conduct of a person,
he causes the consequences to find him.
12 Indeed, in truth, God does not act wickedly,
and the Almighty does not pervert justice.
13 Who entrusted to him the earth?
And who put him over the whole world?
14 If God were to set his heart on it,
and gather in his spirit and his breath,
15 all flesh would perish together,
and human beings would return to dust.

16 “If you have understanding, listen to this,
hear what I have to say.
17 Do you really think
that one who hates justice can govern?
And will you declare guilty
the supremely Righteous One,
18 who says to a king, ‘Worthless man,’
and to nobles, ‘Wicked men,’
19 who shows no partiality to princes,
and does not take note of the rich more than the poor
because all of them are the work of his hands?
20 In a moment they die, in the middle of the night;
people are shaken, and they pass away.
The mighty are removed effortlessly.
21 For his eyes are on the ways of an individual;
he observes all a person’s steps.
22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,
where evildoers can hide themselves.
23 For he does not still consider a person,
that he should come before God in judgment.
24 He shatters the great without inquiry
and sets up others in their place.
25 Therefore, he knows their deeds;
he overthrows them in the night,
and they are crushed.
26 He strikes them for their wickedness
in a place where people can see,
27 because they have turned away from following him
and have not understood any of his ways,
28 so that they caused the cry of the poor
to come before him,
so that he hears the cry of the needy.
29 But if God is quiet, who can condemn him?
If he hides his face, then who can see him?
Yet he is over the individual and the nation alike,
30 so that the godless man should not rule
and not lay snares for the people.

31 “Has anyone said to God,
‘I have endured chastisement,
but I will not act wrongly any more;
32 teach me what I cannot see;
if I have done evil, I will do so no more’?
33 Is it your opinion that God should recompense it,
because you reject this?
But you must choose, and not I,
so tell us what you know.
34 Men of understanding say to me—
any wise man listening to me says—
35 that Job speaks without knowledge
and his words are without understanding.
36 But Job will be tested to the end,
because his answers are like those of wicked men.
37 For he adds transgression to his sin;
in our midst he claps his hands
and multiplies his words against God.”

35:1 Then Elihu answered:
2 “Do you think this to be just
when you say, ‘My right before God’?
3 But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’
and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’
4 I will reply to you,
and to your friends with you.
5 Gaze at the heavens and see;
consider the clouds, which are higher than you.
6 If you sin, how does it affect God?
If your transgressions are many,
what does it do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to God,
or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness affects only a person like yourself,
and your righteousness only other people.

9 “People cry out
because of the excess of oppression;
they cry out for help
because of the power of the mighty.
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God, my Creator,
who gives songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than the wild animals of the earth,
and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’
12 Then they cry out—but he does not answer—
because of the arrogance of the wicked.
13 Surely it is an empty cry—God does not hear it;
the Almighty does not take notice of it.
14 How much less, then,
when you say that you do not perceive him,
that the case is before him
and you are waiting for him!
15 And further, when you say
that his anger does not punish,
and that he does not know transgression!
16 So Job opens his mouth to no purpose;
without knowledge he multiplies words.”

REFLECTIONS

We will read the final part of Elihu’s verdict on Monday. In the meantime, the question to wrestle with is still: Does Elihu bring the true wisdom that Job and his friends were lacking? Is he qualified to act as the judge, or is this a case of the blind leading the blind?