1Then Elihu continued:
2“You three men who think that you [SAR] are very wise, hear me;
3When we [SYN] hear what other people like you say,
4We need to decide who is saying what is right
5Job has said, ‘I am innocent,
6Even though I have always done what is right,
7◄Is there any person like Job, who insults others as easily as people accept a drink of water?/There is no person like Job, who insults others as easily as people accept a drink of water.► [RHQ]
8He habitually associates with people who do what is evil
9He has said, ‘It is useless for people to try to please God.’
10“So, you men who claim that you understand everything, listen to me!
11He ◄pays back/punishes► people for what they have done;
12Truly, Almighty God never does what is wicked;
13The authority that he has to rule everything on the earth, no one [RHQ] gave it to him;
14If he would take his spirit back to himself,
15everyone would die immediately,
16“So, Job, if you say that you understand everything,
17God could certainly not [RHQ] govern the world if he hated doing what is fair/just.
18He tells some kings that they are worthless,
19He does not favor rulers more than he favors others;
20People often die suddenly;
21“He sees [MTY] everything that people do;
22There is no gloom or darkness [DOU] that is so dark
23God does not need to set a time
24He destroys mighty people without needing to investigate what they have done,
25Because he already knows what they have done,
26Where many people can see it,
27he strikes them because they turned away from doing what he wanted them to do
28They mistreated the poor people,
29But if God decides to do nothing to punish wicked people,
30and if God hides his face with the result that he does not see that ruler or punish him,
31“Job, have you or anyone else ever said to God, ‘I have been punished for my sins,
32so teach/show me what sins I have committed;
33Job, you object to what God has done to you,
34“People who have good sense, those who are wise and who listen to what I say,
35‘Job is speaking ignorantly;
36I think that Job should be taken to a court and ◄put on trial/judged►,
37To add to the other sins that he has committed, he is rebelling against God;