| International Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1In response, Elihu said: | 1Then Elihu said: |
| 2"Are you saying that it's just for you to claim, 'I'm more righteous than God?' | 2"Do you think this is just? You say, 'I am in the right, not God.' |
| 3After all, you've asked what your benefit will be: 'What will I profit from refraining from sin?' | 3Yet you ask him, 'What profit is it to me, and what do I gain by not sinning?' |
| 4I'm going to respond to that statement, and to your friends with you." | 4"I would like to reply to you and to your friends with you. |
| 5"Observe the heavens! Take a look around! Look! The clouds are higher than you, aren't they? | 5Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. |
| 6If you sin, what will that do to harm him? If you add transgression to transgression what will it do to him? | 6If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? |
| 7If you are righteous, what will you add to him? What can God receive from your efforts? | 7If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand? |
| 8Your wickedness affects only yourself; and your righteousness, only human beings. | 8Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself, and your righteousness only other people. |
| 9"They cry out because they have many oppressors; they cry for help because the powerful are abusing them. | 9"People cry out under a load of oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful. |
| 10He never asks, 'Where is God, my Creator, who gives me songs in the night, | 10But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, |
| 11who teaches us more than the earth's wild animals, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?' | 11who teaches us more than he teaches the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?' |
| 12"They cry out there, but he doesn't answer because of the arrogance of those who practice evil. | 12He does not answer when people cry out because of the arrogance of the wicked. |
| 13Theirs is a useless plea— God won't listen; the Almighty won't pay any attention. | 13Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea; the Almighty pays no attention to it. |
| 14Even though you complain that you can't perceive him, your case is already pending for judgment in his presence so keep on placing your hope in him. | 14How 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, |
| 15"So now, if he doesn't inflict punishment in his anger, then he doesn't keep track of your many transgressions. | 15and further, that his anger never punishes and he does not take the least notice of wickedness. |
| 16When he began speaking, he communicated only worthlessness; he added words upon words without knowing anything." | 16So Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words." |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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