New International Version NIV
American Standard Version ASV
1 Then Elihu said:
1
Moreover Elihu answered and said,
2 “Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am in the right, not God.’
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Thinkest thou this to be [thy] right, [Or] sayest thou, My righteousness is more than God's,
3 Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,and what do I gain by not sinning?’
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That thou sayest, What advantage will it be unto thee? [And], What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?
4 “I would like to reply to you and to your friends with you.
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I will answer thee, And thy companions with thee.
5 Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you.
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Look unto the heavens, and see; And behold the skies, which are higher than thou.
6 If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him?
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If thou hast sinned, what effectest thou against him? And if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand?
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If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? Or what receiveth he of thy hand?
8 Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself, and your righteousness only other people.
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Thy wickedness [may hurt] a man as thou art; And thy righteousness [may profit] a son of man.
9 “People cry out under a load of oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.
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By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty.
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,
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But none saith, Where is God my Maker, Who giveth songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than he teaches the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?’
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Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, And maketh us wiser than the birds of the heavens?
12 He does not answer when people cry out because of the arrogance of the wicked.
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There they cry, but none giveth answer, Because of the pride of evil men.
13 Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea; the Almighty pays no attention to it.
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Surely God will not hear an empty [cry], Neither will the Almighty regard it.
14 How much less, then, will he listen when you say that you do not see him, that your case is before him and you must wait for him,
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How much less when thou sayest thou beholdest him not, The cause is before him, and thou waitest for him!
15 and further, that his anger never punishes and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.
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But now, because he hath not visited in his anger, Neither doth he greatly regard arrogance;
16 So Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words.”
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Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vanity; He multiplieth words without knowledge.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.