1 Thus Elihu {spoke up} and said, 2 "Hear my words, you wise men, and listen to me, you who know, 3 for [the] ear tests words, and [the] palate tastes {food}. 4 Let us choose justice for ourselves; let us determine among ourselves what [is] good-- 5 for Job has said, 'I am righteous, but God has taken away my justice. 6 Should I lie concerning my justice? [Though I am] without transgression, my wound caused by an arrow is incurable.' 7 What man [is] like Job, who drinks scorn like water? 8 And he goes on the road in company with instigators of mischief, and walks with men of wickedness. 9 Indeed, he says, 'A man does not profit when he takes delight in God.'
10 "Therefore, listen to me, {people who have sense}: far be it from God {that he should commit wickedness} and that Shaddai {should do wrong}. 11 Indeed, he will repay [according to] a human being's deeds, and according to a man's way he will let [it] happen [to] him. 12 What's more, God truly does not act wickedly, and Shaddai does not pervert justice. 13 Who gave him charge [over the] earth? Or who laid on [him] [the] whole world? 14 If he should set his heart to it, and he should gather his spirit and his breath to himself, 15 all flesh would perish together, and humankind would return to dust.
16 "But if [you have] understanding, hear this; listen to {what I say}. 17 Shall [he who] hates justice really govern? Or will you declare [the] Righteous One, the Mighty, guilty?-- 18 the one who says to a king, 'You worthless man,' to noblemen, 'You wicked man,' 19 who {shows no partiality to officials} and [who] {does not take note of the noble more than of the insignificant}, for all of them [are] the work of his hands? 20 [In] a moment they die, and [in] the middle of [the] night [the] people are shaken, and they pass away, and they take away [the] mighty {effortlessly}.
21 "Indeed, his eyes [are] upon [the] ways of man, and he sees all his steps. 22 There is no darkness, and there is no deep shadow where instigators of mischief might hide themselves. 23 Indeed, he has not yet appointed [a time] for man to go to God in the judgment. 24 He shatters the mighty without investigation, and he sets others in their place. 25 Therefore he knows their works, and he overturns [them] [in the] night {so that} they are crushed. 26 He strikes them {where the wicked stood}, {where there are onlookers}, 27 because they have turned aside from him and have not understood any of his ways, 28 so that [they] cause [the] cry of distress from [the] helpless to come to him, and he hears [the] cry of distress from [the] needy, 29 but he remains quiet, and who can condemn? And he hides [his] face, and who can behold him? Yet [he is] over a nation and over a person alike, 30 so that godless human beings should not reign, nor those who ensnare [the] people.
31 "Indeed, does anyone say to God, 'I have endured [chastisement]; I will not act corruptly [again]; 32 teach me yourself {what I cannot see}; if I have done wrong, I will not repeat [it]'? 33 {According to your judgment}, must he repay [it] because you rejected [this]? Indeed, you must choose, and not I, so declare what you know. 34 {Those who have sense} say to me, and [the] wise man hearing me [says]: 35 'Job speaks without knowledge, and his words [are] without insight. 36 Would that Job were tested up to [the] end because [his] answers [are] like [those from] men of mischief, 37 for he adds transgression to his sin; he claps hands among us, and he multiplies his words against God.'"