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34:1  Elihu continued:
34:2  “Listen to me, you wise men.
34:3  We can choose the sounds we want to listen to; we can choose the taste we want in food,
34:4  and we should choose to follow what is right. But first of all we must define among ourselves what is good.
34:5  For Job has said, ‘I am innocent, but God says I’m not.
34:6  I am called a liar, even though I am innocent. I am horribly punished, even though I have not sinned.’
34:7  “Who else is as arrogant as Job? He must have spent much time with evil men,
34:8  “Who else is as arrogant as Job? He must have spent much time with evil men,
34:9  for he said, ‘Why waste time trying to please God?’
34:10  “Listen to me, you with understanding. Surely everyone knows that God doesn’t sin!
34:11  Rather, he punishes the sinners.
34:12  There is no truer statement than this: God is never wicked or unjust.
34:13  He alone has authority over the earth and dispenses justice for the world.
34:14  If God were to withdraw his Spirit,
34:15  all life would disappear and mankind would turn again to dust.
34:16  “Listen now and try to understand.
34:17  Could God govern if he hated justice? Are you going to condemn the Almighty Judge?
34:18  Are you going to condemn this God who says to kings and nobles, ‘You are wicked and unjust’?
34:19  For he doesn’t care how great a man may be, and doesn’t pay any more attention to the rich than to the poor. He made them all.
34:20  In a moment they die, and at midnight great and small shall suddenly pass away, removed by no human hand.
34:21  “For God carefully watches the goings on of all mankind; he sees them all.
34:22  No darkness is thick enough to hide evil men from his eyes,
34:23  so there is no need to wait for some great crime before a man is called before God in judgment.
34:24  Without making a big issue over it, God simply shatters the greatest of men and puts others in their places.
34:25  He watches what they do and in a single night he overturns them, destroying them,
34:26  or openly strikes them down as wicked men.
34:27  For they turned aside from following him,
34:28  causing the cry of the poor to come to the attention of God. Yes, he hears the cries of those being oppressed.
34:29  Yet when he chooses not to speak, who can criticize? Again, he may prevent a vile man from ruling, thus saving a nation from ruin, and he can depose an entire nation just as easily.
34:30  Yet when he chooses not to speak, who can criticize? Again, he may prevent a vile man from ruling, thus saving a nation from ruin, and he can depose an entire nation just as easily.
34:31  “Why don’t people exclaim to their God, ‘We have sinned, but we will stop,’
34:32  or ‘We know not what evil we have done; only tell us, and we will cease at once’?
34:33  “Must God tailor his justice to your demands? Must he change the order of the universe to suit your whims? The answer must be obvious even to you!
34:34  Anyone even half bright will agree with me that you, Job, are speaking like a fool.
34:35  Anyone even half bright will agree with me that you, Job, are speaking like a fool.
34:36  You should be given the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked about God.
34:37  For now you have added rebellion, arrogance, and blasphemy to your other sins.”