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Job 35
New Living Translation
Job 35
New Living Translation
Elihu Reminds Job of God’s Justice
35 Then Elihu said:
2 “Do you think it is right for you to claim,
‘I am righteous before God’?
3 For you also ask, ‘What’s in it for me?
What’s the use of living a righteous life?’
4 “I will answer you
and all your friends, too.
5 Look up into the sky,
and see the clouds high above you.
6 If you sin, how does that affect God?
Even if you sin again and again,
what effect will it have on him?
7 If you are good, is this some great gift to him?
What could you possibly give him?
8 No, your sins affect only people like yourself,
and your good deeds also affect only humans.
9 “People cry out when they are oppressed.
They groan beneath the power of the mighty.
10 Yet they don’t ask, ‘Where is God my Creator,
the one who gives songs in the night?
11 Where is the one who makes us smarter than the animals
and wiser than the birds of the sky?’
12 And when they cry out, God does not answer
because of their pride.
13 But it is wrong to say God doesn’t listen,
to say the Almighty isn’t concerned.
14 You say you can’t see him,
but he will bring justice if you will only wait.[a]
15 You say he does not respond to sinners with anger
and is not greatly concerned about wickedness.[b]
16 But you are talking nonsense, Job.
You have spoken like a fool.”
Footnotes
- 35:13-14 These verses can also be translated as follows: 13 Indeed, God doesn’t listen to their empty plea; / the Almighty is not concerned. / 14 How much less will he listen when you say you don’t see him, / and that your case is before him and you’re waiting for justice.
- 35:15 As in Greek and Latin versions; the meaning of this Hebrew word is uncertain.
Job 35
New International Version
Job 35
New International Version
35 Then Elihu said:
2 “Do you think this is just?
You say, ‘I am in the right,(A) not God.’(B)
3 Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,[a]
and what do I gain by not sinning?’(C)
4 “I would like to reply to you
and to your friends with you.
5 Look up at the heavens(D) and see;
gaze at the clouds so high above you.(E)
6 If you sin, how does that affect him?
If your sins are many, what does that do to him?(F)
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him,(G)
or what does he receive(H) from your hand?(I)
8 Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,(J)
and your righteousness only other people.(K)
9 “People cry out(L) under a load of oppression;(M)
they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.(N)
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,(O)
who gives songs(P) in the night,(Q)
11 who teaches(R) us(S) more than he teaches[b] the beasts of the earth
and makes us wiser than[c] the birds in the sky?’
12 He does not answer(T) when people cry out
because of the arrogance(U) of the wicked.(V)
13 Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;
the Almighty pays no attention to it.(W)
14 How much less, then, will he listen
when you say that you do not see him,(X)
that your case(Y) is before him
and you must wait for him,(Z)
15 and further, that his anger never punishes(AA)
and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.[d](AB)
16 So Job opens his mouth with empty talk;(AC)
without knowledge he multiplies words.”(AD)
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.