Job 35 Cross References - ISV

¹ Elihu Speaks AgainIn response, Elihu said: ² “Are you saying that it’s just for you to claim, ‘I’m more righteous than God?’ ³ After all, you’ve asked what your benefit will be: ‘What will I profit from refraining from sin?’ ⁴ I’m going to respond to that statement, and to your friends with you.”
⁵ God’s Justice Remains Unsullied“Observe the heavens! Take a look around! Look! The clouds are higher than you, aren’t they? ⁶ If you sin, what will that do to harm him? If you add transgression to transgression what will it do to him? ⁷ If you are righteous, what will you add to him? What can God receive from your efforts? ⁸ Your wickedness affects only yourself; and your righteousness, only human beings. ⁹ “They cry out because they have many oppressors; they cry for help because the powerful are abusing them. ¹⁰ He never asks, ‘Where is God, my Creator, who gives me songs in the night, ¹¹ who teaches us more than the earth’s wild animals, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’ ¹² “They cry out there, but he doesn’t answer because of the arrogance of those who practice evil. ¹³ Theirs is a useless plea— God won’t listen; the Almighty won’t pay any attention. ¹⁴ Even 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. ¹⁵ “So now, if he doesn’t inflict punishment in his anger, then he doesn’t keep track of your many transgressions. ¹⁶ When he began speaking, he communicated only worthlessness; he added words upon words without knowing anything.”

¹⁷ For he crushes me with a storm, and keeps on wounding me for no reason.

⁷ Although you know that I’m not guilty, there’s no one to deliver me from you!

¹⁷ even though violence is not my intention, and my prayer is pure.”

⁶ then at least you must know that God has accused me of wrong, and trapped me with his net.”
⁷ Job Accuses God of Being Angry“Although I cried out ‘Violence!’ I received no answer; I cried for help, but there was no justice.

² “The living God has withheld justice from me; the Almighty has made my life bitter. ³ As long as I can breathe; as long as God’s breath is in my nostrils, ⁴ I won’t speak lies nor will I utter deceit. ⁵ Far be it from me to admit that you’re right! I intend to maintain my integrity even if it kills me! ⁶ I’ll retain my righteousness and not compromise it; my conscience won’t rebuke me at any time.

⁵ Elihu Reviews Job’s Complaint against God’s InjusticeNow this is Job’s claim: ‘Even though I’m innocent, God has stopped treating me righteously.

⁸ Indeed would you annul my justice and condemn me, just so you can claim that you’re righteous?

³⁶ I tell you, on Judgment Day people will give an account for every thoughtless word they have uttered, ³⁷ because by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

²² The king told him, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you evil servant! You knew, did you, that I was a hard man, and that I withdraw what I didn’t deposit and harvest what I didn’t plant?

²¹ “I’m blameless; I don’t know myself; I despise my life. ²² I say it’s all the same— he destroys both the blameless and the guilty.

³⁰ “If I wash myself with water from snow, and cleanse my hands with lye, ³¹ you’ll still drop me into the Pit, and my own clothes will despise me.

¹⁵ “‘Woe to me if I’m guilty! If I’m innocent, I cannot lift my head, because I am filled with disgrace. Look at my affliction!

¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Where’s the profit in talking to him?’

² What would I have from God above, what heritage from the Almighty on high,

⁹ Because he says, ‘There’s no profit for a man to find joy with God.’”

¹³ I kept my heart pure for nothing and kept my hands clean from guilt.

¹⁴ You said, ‘It is futile to serve God,’ and, ‘What did we get out of it when we carried out his requirements and went about like mourners in the presence of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies?’

⁸ traffics in those who practice evil, and walks with wicked people?

²⁰ Whoever keeps company with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm.

⁵ Then the LORD took him outside. “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if you can!” he said. “Your descendants will be that numerous.”

²⁷ and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built!

¹² Eliphaz Acknowledges God but Issues an Imprecatory Prayer“Isn’t God in heaven above? Consider how far away the stars are, and how lofty they are!

⁵ Behold, even the moon isn’t bright, and the stars aren’t pure in his eyes. ⁶ How much less is man, who is only a maggot, or a man’s children, who are only worms!”

²⁶ God Controls the Weather“God is truly awesome, beyond what we know; the number of his years is unknowable.

¹⁶ Do you understand his wondrous work of balancing the clouds, the one whose knowledge is perfect,

²² From the north he brings gold; around God is awesome splendor. ²³ We cannot find the Almighty— he is majestic in power and justice, and overflowing with righteousness; he never oppresses.

³ When I look at the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you established— ⁴ what is man that you take notice of him, or the son of man that you pay attention to him?

²² He’s the one who sits above the disk of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He’s the one who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in, ²³ who brings princes to nothing, and makes void the rulers of the earth.

⁹ “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

³ The LORD is slow to anger and powerful, and he will never let the guilty go unpunished. The LORD’s path is in the windstorm and hurricane; thunderclouds are dust beneath his feet.

³⁶ But whoever sins against me destroys himself; everyone who hates me loves death.”

¹² If you are wise, your wisdom will assist you. If you mock, you alone will be held responsible.

¹⁹ Are they provoking me?” asks the LORD. “Is it not themselves, and to their own shame?”

¹⁴ But who am I, and who are my people, that we make such voluntary offerings as these? For all things come from you, and from your own hand we are giving to you.

² “Can a human being be useful to God, since he, who is wise, is sufficient to himself? ³ Will it please the Almighty if you are innocent, or does he profit if your life is blameless?

² I told the LORD, “You are my master, I have nothing good apart from you.”

¹⁰ That’s the way it is with you. When you have done everything you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless servants. We have done only what we ought to have done.’”

³⁵ Or who has given him something only to have him pay it back?”

² I’ll make a great nation of your descendants, I’ll bless you, and I’ll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing.

²⁴ Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won’t he?”
²⁶ The LORD said, “If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I’ll forgive the whole place for their sake.”
²⁷ Abraham answered, “Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I’ve ventured to speak to my LORD. ²⁸ What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?”
The LORD said, “I won’t destroy it if I find 45 there.”
²⁹ Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, “What if 40 are found there?”
The LORD replied, “I won’t do it for the sake of those 40.”
³⁰ Abraham then asked, “I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?”
The LORD answered, “I won’t do it for the sake of those 30.”
³¹ “Look,” Abraham said, “I’ve presumed to speak to my LORD… so what if 20 are found there?”
“For the sake of those 20,” the LORD responded, “I won’t destroy it.”
³² Finally, Abraham inquired, “I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?”
He replied, “For the sake of those ten I won’t destroy it.”
³³ As soon as he finished talking to Abraham, the LORD left and Abraham returned to where he had been sitting.

²⁹ And so it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and brought Lot out from the midst of the destruction when he overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

¹ Israel is Defeated at AiLater, the Israelis broke their promise regarding the things that had been turned over to destruction. Carmi’s son Achan, grandson of Zabdi and great-grandson of Zerah from the tribe of Judah, appropriated some of the things that had been turned over to destruction. As a result, the LORD became angry with the Israelis.
² Meanwhile, Joshua had sent some soldiers from Jericho to Ai, which was near Beth-aven, east of Bethel. He ordered them, “Go up and scout the land.” So the soldiers went up and scouted Ai and ³ returned to Joshua.
“Not all of the people need to go up,” they reported. “Only about two or three thousand men should attack Ai. Since they are so few, don’t make all of the army work hard up there.”
⁴ So about three thousand went up there, but they ran away from the men of Ai. ⁵ The men of Ai killed about 36 of them, pursuing them outside the city gates as far as Shebarim, killing them as they descended. As a result, the army became terrified and lost their confidence.

²⁰ Didn’t Zerah’s son Achan act treacherously with respect to the things banned by God, and as a result God became angry at the entire community of Israel? And that man was not the only one to die because of his iniquity.’”

⁸ So take seven bulls and seven rams and bring them to my servant Job. And bring a whole burnt offering for yourselves and my servant Job will pray for you. I’ll encourage him by not responding as your disgraceful folly deserves, since you didn’t speak about me correctly as did my servant Job.

²³ He would have destroyed them but for Moses, his chosen one, who stood in the breach before him to avert his destructive wrath.

³⁰ But Phinehas intervened and prayed so that the plague was restrained.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war, and a single sinner can destroy a lot of good.

³⁰ I sought for a man among them to build the wall and stand in the breach in my presence on behalf of the land so that it won’t be destroyed, but I found no one,

¹² Jonah told them, “Pick me up and toss me into the sea. Then the sea will calm down for you, because I know that it’s my fault that this mighty storm has come upon you.”

²⁴ and said, ‘Stop being afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor. Indeed, God has given to you the lives of everyone who is sailing with you.’

⁷ By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, reverently prepared an ark to save his family, and by faith he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes by faith.

²³ The Israelis Cry Out to GodThe king of Egypt eventually died, and the Israelis groaned because of the bondage. They cried out, and their cry for deliverance from slavery ascended to God.

⁷ The LORD said, “I have certainly seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry caused by their slave masters. I really do understand their pain,

⁹ Now, listen carefully! The cry of the Israelis has come to my attention about how severely the Egyptians have been oppressing them.

¹ Settling Some Civil DisputesNow the people along with their spouses complained loudly against their fellow Jews, ² because certain of them kept claiming, “Since we have so many sons and daughters, we must get some grain so we can eat and survive.”
³ Others were saying, “We’re having to mortgage our fields, our vineyards, and our homes so we can buy grain during this famine.”
⁴ Still others were saying “We’ve borrowed money against our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s taxes. ⁵ Now our bodies are no different than the bodies of our relatives, and our children are like their children. Nevertheless, we’re about to force our sons and daughters into slavery, and some of our daughters are already in bondage. It’s beyond our power to do anything about it, because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

¹⁹ He leads away the priests naked and overthrows the ruling class.

¹² From the city, dying men groan aloud, and the wounded cries out for help, but God charges no one with wrong.

²⁸ As a result, the cries of the poor have reached him and he has heard the cry of the afflicted.

⁹ Do you have strength like God? Can you create thunder with a sound like he can?”

¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; so that when you seek out his wickedness you will find it no more.

⁵ “Because the poor are being oppressed, because the needy are sighing, I will now arise,” says the LORD, “I will establish in safety those who yearn for it.”

² Since you are the God who strengthens me, why have you forsaken me? Why do I go around mourning under the enemy’s oppression?”

² Pay attention to me and answer me. I moan and groan in my thoughts, ³ because of the voice of the enemy, and because of the oppression of the wicked. They bring down evil upon me, and in anger they hate me.

¹ To the Director: A special Davidic psalm to the tune of “A Silent Dove Far Away,” when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
A Prayer about Trust in God Have mercy on me, God, because men have harassed me. Those who oppress me have fought against me all day long. ² Those who watch me all day have harassed me, for there are many who fight against me out of conceit.

³ In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, ‘I don’t fear God or respect people, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.’”
⁶ Then the Lord added, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ Won’t God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them?

¹³ So Saul died for his transgressions; that is, he acted unfaithfully to the LORD by transgressing the message from the LORD (which he did not keep), by consulting a medium for advice, ¹⁴ and by not seeking counsel from the LORD, who therefore put him to death and turned the kingdom over to Jesse’s son David.

²² The Apostasy and Death of Ahaz
In the midst of his troubles, King Ahaz became more and more unfaithful to the LORD. ²³ He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him, reasoning, “The gods of the kings of Aram helped them, so I’ll sacrifice to them so they will help me!” But those gods brought about his downfall, and the downfall of all of Israel, too.

¹⁰ Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?”

²² since I don’t know the first thing about how to flatter; and the one who made me would sweep me away as if I were nothing.”

³ I’ll take what I know to its logical conclusion and ascribe righteousness to my Creator,

¹³ The godless at heart cherish anger; they won’t cry out for help when God afflicts them.

⁸ By day the LORD will command his gracious love, and by night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.

⁶ During the night I remembered my song. I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders.

⁶² At midnight I will get up to thank you for your righteous ordinances.

⁵ May those he loves be exalted, singing for joy on their couches.

¹ Remember Your Creator So remember your Creator during your youth! Otherwise, troublesome days will come and years will creep up on you when you’ll say, “I find no pleasure in them,”

²¹ “They’ll pass through the land, while greatly distressed and hungry. When they are hungry, they’ll become enraged, and they’ll curse their king and their god. They’ll turn their faces upwards,

¹³ As a result, you have forgotten the LORD who made you, who stretched out the heavens and laid the earth’s foundations, and you live in constant fear every day because of the oppressor’s fury, since he’s ready to destroy. Now where is the oppressor’s fury?

⁵ For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of the whole earth.

²⁵ Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

¹⁹ So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do what is good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, to be like us. Let them be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly, the livestock, everything that crawls on the earth, and over the earth itself!”

⁷ So the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground, breathed life into his lungs, and the man became a living being.

⁸ However, a spirit exists in mankind, and the Almighty’s breath gives him insight.

²² “Indeed, God is exalted in his power. Who is like him as a teacher?

¹² How blessed is the man whom you instruct, LORD, whom you teach from your Law,

⁴¹ They cried out for deliverance, but there was no one to deliver; they cried out to the LORD, but he did not answer them.

⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace and violence covers them like a garment. ⁷ Their eyes bulge from obesity and the imaginations of their mind cross the border into sin. ⁸ In their mockery they speak evil; from their arrogant position they speak oppression.

³ Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy, for we have had more than enough of contempt. ⁴ Our lives overflow with scorn from those who live at ease, with contempt from those who are proud.

²⁸ “Then they will call out to me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

¹⁴ I’ll ascend above the tops of the clouds; I’ll make myself like the Most High.’ ¹⁵ But you are brought down to join the dead, to the far reaches of the Pit. ¹⁶ “Those who see you will stare at you. They will wonder about you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who made kingdoms quake, ¹⁷ who made the world like a desert, who destroyed its cities, who would not open the jails for his prisoners?’

³¹ We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he does listen to anyone who worships him and does his will.

²² Accept what he has to teach you, and treasure his words in your heart. ²³ “If you return to the Almighty you’ll be restored, as you remove iniquity from your household. ²⁴ Bury your gold nuggets in the dust, and your source of gold among the stones in a streambed, ²⁵ and then the Almighty will be your gold and your refined silver. ²⁶ “Then you’ll take delight in the Almighty; and will turn your face toward God. ²⁷ You’ll entreat him and he’ll listen to you as you fulfill your vows.

⁸ For where is the hope of the godless when he is eliminated; when God takes away his life? ⁹ Will God hear his cry when distress overtakes him?

²⁰ I cry for help to you, but you won’t answer me; I stand still, but you only look at me.

¹⁷ He will turn to the prayer of the destitute, not despising their prayer.

⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

²⁹ The LORD is far away from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.

⁹ If someone quits listening to the Law even his prayer is detestable.

¹ Advice in WorshipWatch your step whenever you visit God’s house, and come more ready to listen than to offer a fool’s sacrifice, since fools never think they’re doing evil. ² Don’t be impulsive with your mouth nor be in a hurry to talk in God’s presence. Since God is in heaven and you’re on earth, keep your speech short. ³ Too many worries lead to nightmares, and a fool is known from talking too much.

¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I’ll hide my eyes from you. Even though you pray repeatedly, I won’t listen. Your hands are full of blood, your fingers drenched with iniquity.”

¹¹ Therefore, this is what the LORD says: “I’m about to bring disaster on them from which they won’t be able to escape. They’ll cry out to me, but I won’t listen to them.

¹⁴ They will not cry to me from their heart— instead, they wail on their beds. They gather together to eat and drink, turning away from me.

² They cry out to me, ‘God, we of Israel acknowledge you.’ ³ “Israel has discarded what is good. The enemy will pursue them.

²² And if you send up burnt offerings to me as well as your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I consider your peace offerings of fattened cattle.

⁷ “When you are praying, don’t say meaningless things like the unbelievers do, because they think they will be heard by being so wordy.

²¹ He asked her, “What do you want?”
She told him, “Promise that in your kingdom these two sons of mine will sit on your right and on your left.”
²² Jesus replied, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink from the cup that I’m going to drink from?”
They told him, “We can.”

³ You ask for something but do not get it because you ask for it for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.

¹¹ “If he were to pass near me, I wouldn’t notice; if he moves by, I wouldn’t perceive him.

¹⁹ “Is this a contest of strength? He is obviously stronger! Is this a matter of justice? Who can sue him?

⁷ Job Accuses God of Being Angry“Although I cried out ‘Violence!’ I received no answer; I cried for help, but there was no justice.

³ If only I knew where to find him, I would visit him where he has taken his seat.

⁸ Job Justifies His Innocence“Look! If I go east, he isn’t there! If I go to the west, I don’t perceive him. ⁹ If he’s working in the north, I can’t observe him; If he turns south, I can’t see him. ¹⁰ Because he knows the road on which I travel, when he had tested me, I’ll come out like gold.

¹² Do not hand me over to the desires of my enemies; for false witnesses have risen up against me; even the one who breathes out violence. ¹³ I believe that I will see the LORD’s goodness in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait on the LORD. Be courageous, and he will strengthen your heart. Wait on the LORD!

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD; Trust him, and he will act. ⁶ He will bring forth your righteousness as a light, and your justice as the noonday sun.

⁵ My soul, be quiet before God, for from him comes my hope.

⁸ People, in every situation put your trust in God; pour out your heart before him; for God is a refuge for us. Interlude

⁵ I thought of ancient times, considering years long past. ⁶ During the night I remembered my song. I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders. ⁷ Will the Lord reject me forever and not show favor again? ⁸ Has his gracious love ceased forever? Will his promise be unfulfilled in future generations? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger withheld his compassion? Interlude ¹⁰ So I say: “It causes me pain that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

² Thick clouds are all around him; righteousness and justice are his throne’s foundation.

¹⁸ Restoration is Promised to Israel“Nevertheless, the LORD will wait so he can be gracious to you; and thus he will rise up to show you mercy. For the LORD is a God of justice. How blessed are all those who wait for him.”

¹⁰ Who among you fears the LORD, obeying the voice of his servant, who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD, and rely upon his God.

¹⁷ no weapon that is forged against you will be effective. This is the heritage of the LORD’s servants, and their righteousness from me,” says the LORD.

⁷ Micah Looks to GodBut as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God who will deliver me. My God will hear me. ⁸ Don’t be glad on my account, my enemy. When I fall, I’ll get up. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD is a light for me. ⁹ I will endure the LORD’s anger— since I have sinned against him— until he takes over my defense, administers justice on my behalf, and brings me out to the light, where I will gaze on his righteousness.

³³ Who will accuse God’s elect? It is God who justifies! ³⁴ Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.

¹² The LORD Disciplines MosesBut the LORD rebuked Moses and Aaron, telling Moses: “Because you both didn’t believe me, because you didn’t consecrate me as holy in the presence of the Israelis, you won’t be the ones to bring this congregation into the land that I’m about to give them.”

⁵ “But now it’s your turn, and you’re the one who is worn out! Now it’s striking you, and you’re dismayed!

¹⁴ So how am I to answer him, choosing what I am to say to him?

¹⁵ Even though he kills me, I’ll continue to hope in him. At least I’ll be able to argue my case to his face!

¹⁵ My greatest fears have overcome me; my honor is assaulted as though by a wind storm; my prosperity evaporates like a morning cloud.”
¹⁶ Job Accuses God of Mistreating Him“Now, my soul pours itself out; the time of my affliction has taken control of me. ¹⁷ The night racks my bones; and the pain that gnaws on me will not rest. ¹⁸ My clothes are disheveled by his forceful treatment of me; he restricts my movement like the collar of my cloak. ¹⁹ “He tossed me into the mire; I’ve become like dust and ashes. ²⁰ I cry for help to you, but you won’t answer me; I stand still, but you only look at me. ²¹ You changed toward me, and now you’re cruel to me; with your mighty hand you are persecuting me; ²² you carried me off in a wind storm, making me ride on it while you toss me about as the storm roars around me. ²³ I know that you’re about to kill me, so I’m about to go to the house that’s appointed for all the living.”
²⁴ Job Lists His Hopes Despite His Deplorable Condition“Surely he won’t stretch his hand against the needy, will he, especially if they cry to him in their calamity? ²⁵ Haven’t I wept for the one who is going through hard times? Haven’t I grieved for the needy? ²⁶ I have hoped for good, but evil came instead; I have hoped for light, but darkness came. ²⁷ I’m boiling mad inside, and I won’t remain silent; the time for my affliction to confront me has arrived. ²⁸ “In growing darkness, I walked without sunlight; I stood in the congregation to cry for help. ²⁹ I’ve become a brother to jackals, and a friend to ostriches. ³⁰ My skin turns black all over me; and my bones seem burned from the heat. ³¹ But my harp is in mourning; my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping.”

¹¹ Can your gracious love be declared in the grave or your faithfulness in Abaddon? ¹² Can your awesome deeds be known in darkness or your righteousness in the land of oblivion? ¹³ As for me, I cry out to you LORD, and in the morning my prayer greets you. ¹⁴ Why, LORD, have you rejected me? Why have you hidden your face from me? ¹⁵ Since my youth I have been oppressed and in danger of death. I bear your dread and am overwhelmed. ¹⁶ Your burning anger overwhelms me; your terrors destroy me.

³² then I will punish their disobedience with a rod and their iniquity with lashes.

⁸ “How can I give up on you, Ephraim? I will deliver you, will I not, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? I can’t make you like Zeboim, can I? My heart stirs within me; my compassion also fans into flame! ⁹ I will not act in my anger; I will not return to destroy Ephraim, For I am God, and not a human— the Holy One among you— so I will not enter the city in anger.

²⁰ But because you did not believe my announcement, which will be fulfilled at its proper time, you will become silent and unable to speak until the day this happens.”

¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, for those who have been trained by it, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.
¹² Live as God’s PeopleTherefore, strengthen your tired arms and your weak knees,

¹⁹ I correct and discipline those whom I love, so be serious and repent!

¹ Job Laments the Day He was BornAfter this, Job spoke up solemnly, cursing the day he was born.

² Look! I’ve begun to speak, and I’m fashioning my words.

⁸ Elihu Reviews Job’s Claim for Innocence“You spoke clearly so I could hear; I’ve heard what you’ve said: ⁹ ‘I’m pure. I’m without sin; I’m innocent. I’m harboring no iniquity inside of me. ¹⁰ Nevertheless, God has found a pretext to attack me; he considers me his enemy. ¹¹ He has bound my feet in shackles, and keeps watching everything I do.’”
¹² God Responds to Humanity’s Need“You aren’t right about this; My response is that God is greater than human beings.

³⁵ Job has been speaking from his own ignorance, and what he has to say lacks insight! ³⁶ Oh, how Job needs to be given a full court trial, as a rebuke to those who practice evil, ³⁷ because he has been adding rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us, and keeps on ranting against God.”

² “Who is this who keeps darkening my counsel without knowing what he’s talking about?