Job 34 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Elihu Asserts God’s Justice

Job 34:1

Job 34:1Then Elihu answered and said:

Job 34:2

Job 34:2“Hear my words, you wise men,
and give ear to me, you who know;

Job 34:3

Job 34:3for the ear tests words
as the palate tastes food.

Job 34:4

Job 34:4Let us choose what is right;
let us know among ourselves what is good.

Job 34:5

Job 34:5For Job has said, ‘I am in the right,
and God has taken away my right;

Job 34:6

Job 34:6in spite of my right I am counted a liar;
my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

Job 34:7

Job 34:7What man is like Job,
who drinks up scoffing like water,

Job 34:8

Job 34:8who travels in company with evildoers
and walks with wicked men?

Job 34:9

Job 34:9For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
that he should take delight in God.’

Job 34:10

Job 34:10“Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding:
far be it from God that he should do wickedness,
and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.

Job 34:11

Job 34:11For according to the work of a man he will repay him,
and according to his ways he will make it befall him.

Job 34:12

Job 34:12Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,
and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

Job 34:13

Job 34:13Who gave him charge over the earth,
and who laid on him[fn] the whole world?

Job 34:14

Job 34:14If he should set his heart to it
and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,

Job 34:15

Job 34:15all flesh would perish together,
and man would return to dust.

Job 34:16

Job 34:16“If you have understanding, hear this;
listen to what I say.

Job 34:17

Job 34:17Shall one who hates justice govern?
Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,

Job 34:18

Job 34:18who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’
and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’

Job 34:19

Job 34:19who shows no partiality to princes,
nor regards the rich more than the poor,
for they are all the work of his hands?

Job 34:20

Job 34:20In a moment they die;
at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,
and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.

Job 34:21

Job 34:21“For his eyes are on the ways of a man,
and he sees all his steps.

Job 34:22

Job 34:22There is no gloom or deep darkness
where evildoers may hide themselves.

Job 34:23

Job 34:23For God[fn] has no need to consider a man further,
that he should go before God in judgment.

Job 34:24

Job 34:24He shatters the mighty without investigation
and sets others in their place.

Job 34:25

Job 34:25Thus, knowing their works,
he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.

Job 34:26

Job 34:26He strikes them for their wickedness
in a place for all to see,

Job 34:27

Job 34:27because they turned aside from following him
and had no regard for any of his ways,

Job 34:28

Job 34:28so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him,
and he heard the cry of the afflicted—

Job 34:29

Job 34:29When he is quiet, who can condemn?
When he hides his face, who can behold him,
whether it be a nation or a man?—

Job 34:30

Job 34:30that a godless man should not reign,
that he should not ensnare the people.

Job 34:31

Job 34:31“For has anyone said to God,
‘I have borne punishment; I will not offend any more;

Job 34:32

Job 34:32teach me what I do not see;
if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?

Job 34:33

Job 34:33Will he then make repayment to suit you,
because you reject it?
For you must choose, and not I;
therefore declare what you know.[fn]

Job 34:34

Job 34:34Men of understanding will say to me,
and the wise man who hears me will say:

Job 34:35

Job 34:35‘Job speaks without knowledge;
his words are without insight.’

Job 34:36

Job 34:36Would that Job were tried to the end,
because he answers like wicked men.

Job 34:37

Job 34:37For he adds rebellion to his sin;
he claps his hands among us
and multiplies his words against God.”

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(34:13)

Hebrew lacks on him

(34:23)

Hebrew he

(34:33)

The meaning of the Hebrew in verses 29–33 is uncertain

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

Job Chapter 34 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Job 34 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Elihu Asserts God’s Justice

ESV Footnotes

Job Chapter 34 — Additional Translations:

Did You Know BLB Is User Supported?