Job 35

1And Elihu went on to say:

2“Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am more righteous than God.’

3For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’

4I will reply to you and to your friends as well.

5Look to the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.

6If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him?

7If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand?

8Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only a son of man.

9Men cry out under great oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty.

10But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives us songs in the night,

11who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

12There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.

13Surely God does not listen to empty pleas, and the Almighty does not take note of it.

14How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him,

15and further, that in His anger He has not punished or taken much notice of folly!

16So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”

1Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.

2Take up Your shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid.

3Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”

4May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plan to harm me be driven back and confounded.

5May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.

6May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.

7For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.

8May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.

9Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and exult in His salvation.

10All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”

11Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.

12They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.

13Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.

14I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.

15But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.

16Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.

17How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.

18Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people.

19Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.

20For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.

21They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”

22O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent. O Lord, be not far from me.

23Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!

24Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God, and do not let them gloat over me.

25Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!”

26May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.

27May those who favor my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “Exalted be the LORD who delights in His servant’s well-being.”

28Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness and Your praises all day long.