Job - Chapter 34 | Good News Translation

  • 1. You men are so wise, so clever; listen now to what I am saying.
  • 2. {cf15I (SEE 34:1)}
  • 3. You know good food when you taste it, but not wise words when you hear them.
  • 4. It is up to us to decide the case.
  • 5. Job claims that he is innocent, that God refuses to give him justice.
  • 6. He asks, "How could I lie and say I am wrong? I am fatally wounded, but I am sinless."
  • 7. Have you ever seen anyone like this man Job? He never shows respect for God.
  • 8. He likes the company of evil people and goes around with sinners.
  • 9. He says that it never does any good to try to follow God's will.
  • 10. Listen to me, you men who understand! Will Almighty God do what is wrong?
  • 11. He rewards people for what they do and treats them as they deserve.
  • 12. Almighty God does not do evil; he is never unjust to anyone.
  • 13. Did God get his power from someone else? Did someone put him in charge of the world?
  • 14. If God took back the breath of life,
  • 15. then everyone living would die and turn into dust again.
  • 16. Now listen to me, if you are wise.
  • 17. Are you condemning the righteous God? Do you think that {I he} hates justice?
  • 18. God condemns kings and rulers when they are worthless or wicked.
  • 19. He does not take the side of rulers nor favor the rich over the poor, for he created everyone.
  • 20. We may suddenly die at night. God strikes us down and we perish; he kills the mighty with no effort at all.
  • 21. He watches every step we take.
  • 22. There is no darkness dark enough to hide a sinner from God.
  • 23. God does not need to set a time for us to go and be judged by him.
  • 24. He does not need an investigation to remove leaders and replace them with others.
  • 25. Because he knows what they do; he overthrows them and crushes them by night.
  • 26. He punishes sinners where all can see it,
  • 27. because they have stopped following him and ignored all his commands.
  • 28. They forced the poor to cry out to God, and he heard their calls for help.
  • 29. If God decided to do nothing at all, no one could criticize him. If he hid his face, we would be helpless.
  • 30. There would be nothing that nations could do to keep godless oppressors from ruling them.
  • 31. Job, have you confessed your sins to God and promised not to sin again?
  • 32. Have you asked God to show you your faults, and have you agreed to stop doing evil?
  • 33. Since you object to what God does, can you expect him to do what you want? The decision is yours, not mine; tell us now what you think.
  • 34. Any sensible person will surely agree; and the wise who hear me will say
  • 35. that Job is speaking from ignorance and that nothing he says makes sense.
  • 36. Think through everything that Job says; you will see that he talks like an evil man.
  • 37. To his sins he adds rebellion; in front of us all he mocks God.
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