Job 35

1 And Elihu answereth and saith: —

Then Elihu continued, saying,

2 This hast thou reckoned for judgment: Thou hast said — 'My righteousness [is] more than God's?'

“Do you think it's honest to claim you are right before God?

3 For thou sayest, 'What doth it profit Thee! What do I profit from my sin?'

And you ask, ‘What benefit do I get? What good has it done me by not sinning?’

4 I return thee words, and thy friends with thee,

I'll tell you, and your friends too!

5 Behold attentively the heavens — and see, And behold the clouds, They have been higher than thou.

Just look up at the sky and see. Observe the clouds high above you.

6 If thou hast sinned, what dost thou against Him? And thy transgressions have been multiplied, What dost thou to Him?

If you sin, how does that harm God? How do your many sins affect God?

7 If thou hast been righteous, What dost thou give to Him? Or what from thy hand doth He receive?

If you do what's right, what good are you doing for him?

8 For a man like thyself [is] thy wickedness, And for a son of man thy righteousness.

No—your sins only affect people like yourself, and whatever good you do only affects them too.

9 Because of the multitude of oppressions They cause to cry out, They cry because of the arm of the mighty.

People cry out because of terrible persecution; they call for someone to save them from their oppressors.

10 And none said, 'Where [is] God my maker? Giving songs in the night,

But no one asks, ‘Where is the God my maker, the one who gives songs in the night,

11 Teaching us more than the beasts of the earth, Yea, than the fowl of the heavens He maketh us wiser.'

who teaches us more than the animals, and makes us wiser than the birds?’

12 There they cry, and He doth not answer, Because of the pride of evil doers.

When they call out for help, God doesn't answer because they are proud and evil people.

13 Surely vanity God doth not hear, And the Mighty doth not behold it.

God doesn't listen to their empty cries; the Almighty doesn't pay them any attention.

14 Yea, though thou sayest thou dost not behold Him, Judgment [is] before Him, and stay for Him.

How much less will God hear you when you say he can't see you? Your case is before him, so you have to wait for him.

15 And, now, because there is not, He hath appointed His anger, And He hath not known in great extremity.

You're saying that God doesn't punish people in his anger and pays little attention to sin.

16 And Job [with] vanity doth open his mouth, Without knowledge words he multiplieth.

You, Job, are talking nonsense, making long speeches when you know nothing!”