Berean Study Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
1And Elihu went on to say: | 1Then Elihu continued, saying: |
2“Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am more righteous than God.’ | 2Do you think it is just when you say, "I am righteous before God"? |
3For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’ | 3For you ask, "What does it profit You, and what benefit comes to me, if I do not sin?" |
4I will reply to you and to your friends as well. | 4I will answer you and your friends with you. |
5Look to the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you. | 5Look at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you. |
6If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him? | 6If you sin, how does it affect God? If you multiply your transgressions, what does it do to Him? |
7If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand? | 7If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand? |
8Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only a son of man. | 8Your wickedness affects a person like yourself, and your righteousness another human being. |
9Men cry out under great oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty. | 9People cry out because of severe oppression; they shout for help because of the arm of the mighty. |
10But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives us songs in the night, | 10But no one asks, "Where is God my Maker, who provides us with songs in the night, |
11who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’ | 11who gives us more understanding than the animals of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?" |
12There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. | 12There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. |
13Surely God does not listen to empty pleas, and the Almighty does not take note of it. | 13Indeed, God does not listen to empty cries, and the Almighty does not take note of it-- |
14How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him, | 14how much less when you complain that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you are waiting for Him. |
15and further, that in His anger He has not punished or taken much notice of folly! | 15But now, because God's anger does not punish and He does not pay attention to transgression, |
16So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.” | 16Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge. |
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