New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Elihu Sharply Reproves Job

1 Then Elihu continued and said,

2 “Do you think this is according to justice?

Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?

3 For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You?

What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’

4 I will answer you,

And your friends with you.

5 Look at the heavens and see;

And behold the clouds—they are higher than you.

6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him?

And if your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him?

7 If you are righteous, what do you give to Him,

Or what does He receive from your hand?

8 Your wickedness is for a man like yourself,

And your righteousness is for a son of man.

9 “Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out;

They cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.

10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,

Who gives songs in the night,

11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth

And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

12 There they cry out, but He does not answer

Because of the pride of evil men.

13 Surely God will not listen to an emptycry,

Nor will the Almighty regard it.

14 How much less when you say you do not behold Him,

The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

15 And now, because He has not visitedinHis anger,

Nor has He acknowledged transgression well,

16 So Job opens his mouth emptily;

He multiplies words without knowledge.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JOB/35-ebd53c7c532a9dc702a94ec6402e3628.mp3?version_id=100—

Elihu Speaks of God’s Dealings with Men

1 Then Elihu continued and said,

2 “Wait for me a little, and I will show you

That there is yet more to be said in God’s behalf.

3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar,

And I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

4 For truly my words are not false;

One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

5 Behold, God is mighty but does not despiseany;

He ismighty in strength of understanding.

6 He does not keep the wicked alive,

But gives justice to the afflicted.

7 He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous;

But with kings on the throne

He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.

8 And if they are bound in fetters,

And are caught in the cords of affliction,

9 Then He declares to them their work

And their transgressions, that they have magnified themselves.

10 He opens their ear to instruction,

And commands that they return from evil.

11 If they hear and serveHim,

They will end their days in prosperity

And their years in pleasures.

12 But if they do not hear, they shall perish by the sword

And they will die without knowledge.

13 But the godless in heart lay up anger;

They do not cry for help when He binds them.

14 They die in youth,

And their lifeperishesamong the cult prostitutes.

15 He delivers the afflicted in their affliction,

And opens their ear intime ofoppression.

16 Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress,

Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;

And that which was set on your table was full of fatness.

17 “But you were full of judgment on the wicked;

Judgment and justice take holdof you.

18 Bewarethat wrath does not entice you to scoffing;

And do not let the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.

19 Will your riches keep you from distress,

Or all the forces ofyourstrength?

20 Do not long for the night,

When people vanish in their place.

21 Be careful, do not turn to evil,

For you have preferred this to affliction.

22 Behold, God is exalted in His power;

Who is a teacher like Him?

23 Who has appointed Him His way,

And who has said, ‘You have done wrong’?

24 “Remember that you should exalt His work,

Of which men have sung.

25 All men have seen it;

Man beholds from afar.

26 Behold, God is exalted, and we do not knowHim;

The number of His years is unsearchable.

27 For He draws up the drops of water,

They distill rain from the mist,

28 Which the clouds pour down,

They drip upon man abundantly.

29 Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,

The thundering of His pavilion?

30 Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him,

And He covers the depths of the sea.

31 For by these He judges peoples;

He gives food in abundance.

32 He coversHishands with the lightning,

And commands it to strike the mark.

33 Its noise declares His presence;

The cattle also, concerning what is coming up.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JOB/36-0adac493277ee750ca7c324eec209420.mp3?version_id=100—

Elihu Says God Is Back of the Storm

1 “At this also my heart trembles,

And leaps from its place.

2 Listen closely to the thunder of His voice,

And the rumbling that goes out from His mouth.

3 Under the whole heaven He lets it loose,

And His lightning to the ends of the earth.

4 After it, a voice roars;

He thunders with His majestic voice,

And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard.

5 God thunders with His voice wondrously,

Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.

6 For to the snow He says, ‘Fall on the earth,’

And to the downpour and the rain, ‘Be strong.’

7 He seals the hand of every man,

That all men may know His work.

8 Then the beast goes into its lair

And remains in its den.

9 Out of the south comes the storm,

And out of the north the cold.

10 From the breath of God ice is made,

And the expanse of the waters is frozen.

11 Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud;

He disperses the cloud of His lightning.

12 It changes direction, turning around by His guidance,

That it may do whatever He commands it

On the face of the inhabited earth.

13 Whether for correction, or for His world,

Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen.

14 “Listen to this, O Job,

Stand and consider the wonders of God.

15 Do you know how God establishes them,

And makes the lightning of His cloud to shine?

16 Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds,

The wonders of one perfect in knowledge,

17 You whose garments are hot,

When the land is still because of the south wind?

18 Can you, with Him, spread out the skies,

Strong as a molten mirror?

19 Teach us what we shall say to Him;

We cannot arrangeour casebecause of darkness.

20 Shall it be told Him that I would speak?

Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?

21 “Now men do not see the light which is bright in the skies;

But the wind has passed and cleared them.

22 Out of the north comes goldensplendor;

Around God is awesome majesty.

23 The Almighty—we cannot find Him;

He is exalted in power

And He will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness.

24 Therefore men fear Him;

He does not regard any who are wise of heart.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JOB/37-65b932fde16bece0a11c6c6ffbe72058.mp3?version_id=100—

God Speaks Now to Job

1 Then the Lordanswered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

2 “Who is this that darkens counsel

By words without knowledge?

3 Now gird up your loins like a man,

And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

TellMe,if you have understanding,

5 Who set its measurements? Since you know.

Or who stretched the line on it?

6 On what were its bases sunk?

Or who laid its cornerstone,

7 When the morning stars sang together

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 “Orwhoenclosed the sea with doors

When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;

9 When I made a cloud its garment

And thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 And I placed boundaries on it

And set a bolt and doors,

11 And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;

And here shall your proud waves stop’?

God’s Mighty Power

12 “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,

Andcaused the dawn to know its place,

13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,

And the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 It is changed like clayunderthe seal;

And they stand forth like a garment.

15 From the wicked their light is withheld,

And the uplifted arm is broken.

16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea

Or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,

Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

18 Have you understood the expanse of the earth?

TellMe,if you know all this.

19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light?

And darkness, where is its place,

20 That you may take it to its territory

And that you may discern the paths to its home?

21 You know, for you were born then,

And the number of your days is great!

22 Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,

Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

23 Which I have reserved for the time of distress,

For the day of war and battle?

24 Where is the way that the light is divided,

Orthe east wind scattered on the earth?

25 “Who has cleft a channel for the flood,

Or a way for the thunderbolt,

26 To bring rain on a land without people,

Ona desert without a man in it,

27 To satisfy the waste and desolate land

And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

28 Has the rain a father?

Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 From whose womb has come the ice?

And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

30 Water becomes hard like stone,

And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,

Or loose the cords of Orion?

32 Can you lead forth a constellation in its season,

And guide the Bear with her satellites?

33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens,

Or fix their rule over the earth?

34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

So that an abundance of water will cover you?

35 Can you send forth lightnings that they may go

And say to you, ‘Here we are’?

36 Who has put wisdom in the innermost being

Or given understanding to the mind?

37 Who can count the clouds by wisdom,

Or tip the water jars of the heavens,

38 When the dust hardens into a mass

And the clods stick together?

39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,

Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 When they crouch intheirdens

Andlie in wait intheirlair?

41 Who prepares for the raven its nourishment

When its young cry to God

And wander about without food?

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JOB/38-79469fb100f664fe311f064a123fc664.mp3?version_id=100—

God Speaks of Nature and Its Beings

1 “Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth?

Do you observe the calving of the deer?

2 Can you count the months they fulfill,

Or do you know the time they give birth?

3 They kneel down, they bring forth their young,

They get rid of their labor pains.

4 Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field;

They leave and do not return to them.

5 “Who sent out the wild donkey free?

And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

6 To whom I gave the wilderness for a home

And the salt land for his dwelling place?

7 He scorns the tumult of the city,

The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.

8 He explores the mountains for his pasture

And searches after every green thing.

9 Will the wild ox consent to serve you,

Or will he spend the night at your manger?

10 Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes,

Or will he harrow the valleys after you?

11 Will you trust him because his strength is great

And leave your labor to him?

12 Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain

And gatherit fromyour threshing floor?

13 “The ostriches’ wings flap joyously

With the pinion and plumage oflove,

14 For she abandons her eggs to the earth

And warms them in the dust,

15 And she forgets that a foot may crush them,

Or that a wild beast may trample them.

16 She treats her young cruelly, as iftheywere not hers;

Though her labor be in vain,sheis unconcerned;

17 Because God has made her forget wisdom,

And has not given her a share of understanding.

18 When she lifts herself on high,

She laughs at the horse and his rider.

19 “Do you give the horsehismight?

Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

20 Do you make him leap like the locust?

His majestic snorting is terrible.

21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices inhisstrength;

He goes out to meet the weapons.

22 He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

And he does not turn back from the sword.

23 The quiver rattles against him,

The flashing spear and javelin.

24 With shaking and rage he races over the ground,

And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet.

25 As often as the trumpetsoundshe says, ‘Aha!’

And he scents the battle from afar,

And the thunder of the captains and the war cry.

26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,

Stretching his wings toward the south?

27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up

And makes his nest on high?

28 On the cliff he dwells and lodges,

Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.

29 From there he spies out food;

His eyes seeitfrom afar.

30 His young ones also suck up blood;

And where the slain are, there is he.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JOB/39-daf12a0076089af347166f6cdaad3476.mp3?version_id=100—

Job: What Can I Say?

1 Then the Lordsaid to Job,

2 “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?

Let him who reproves God answer it.”

3 Then Job answered the Lordand said,

4 “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You?

I lay my hand on my mouth.

5 Once I have spoken, and I will not answer;

Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”

God Questions Job

6 Then the Lordanswered Job out of the storm and said,

7 “Now gird up your loins like a man;

I will ask you, and you instruct Me.

8 Will you really annul My judgment?

Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?

9 Or do you have an arm like God,

And can you thunder with a voice like His?

10 “Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity,

And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.

11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

And look on everyone who is proud, and make him low.

12 Look on everyone who is proud,andhumble him,

And tread down the wicked where they stand.

13 Hide them in the dust together;

Bind them in the hiddenplace.

14 Then I will also confess to you,

That your own right hand can save you.

God’s Power Shown in Creatures

15 “Behold now,Behemoth, which I made as well as you;

He eats grass like an ox.

16 Behold now, his strength in his loins

And his power in the muscles of his belly.

17 He bends his tail like a cedar;

The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

18 His bones are tubes of bronze;

His limbs are like bars of iron.

19 “He is the first of the ways of God;

Let his maker bring near his sword.

20 Surely the mountains bring him food,

And all the beasts of the field play there.

21 Under the lotus plants he lies down,

In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.

22 The lotus plants cover him with shade;

The willows of the brook surround him.

23 If a river rages, he is not alarmed;

He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.

24 Can anyone capture him when he is on watch,

With barbs can anyone piercehisnose?

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JOB/40-ac38dc08cc27d17b2a5fddc3988f9faa.mp3?version_id=100—

God’s Power Shown in Creatures

1 “Can you draw outLeviathan with a fishhook?

Or press down his tongue with a cord?

2 Can you put a rope in his nose

Or pierce his jaw with a hook?

3 Will he make many supplications to you,

Or will he speak to you soft words?

4 Will he make a covenant with you?

Will you take him for a servant forever?

5 Will you play with him as with a bird,

Or will you bind him for your maidens?

6 Will the traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him among the merchants?

7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons,

Or his head with fishing spears?

8 Lay your hand on him;

Remember the battle; you will not do it again!

9 Behold, your expectation is false;

Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?

10 No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him;

Who then is he that can stand before Me?

11 Who has given to Me that I should repayhim?

Whateveris under the whole heaven is Mine.

12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,

Or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.

13 Who can strip off his outer armor?

Who can come within his double mail?

14 Who can open the doors of his face?

Around his teeth there is terror.

15 Hisstrong scales arehispride,

Shut upas witha tight seal.

16 One is so near to another

That no air can come between them.

17 They are joined one to another;

They clasp each other and cannot be separated.

18 His sneezes flash forth light,

And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

19 Out of his mouth go burning torches;

Sparks of fire leap forth.

20 Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth

Asfroma boiling pot andburningrushes.

21 His breath kindles coals,

And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

22 In his neck lodges strength,

And dismay leaps before him.

23 The folds of his flesh are joined together,

Firm on him and immovable.

24 His heart is as hard as a stone,

Even as hard as a lower millstone.

25 When he raises himself up, the mighty fear;

Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

26 The sword that reaches him cannot avail,

Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.

27 He regards iron as straw,

Bronze as rotten wood.

28 The arrow cannot make him flee;

Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

29 Clubs are regarded as stubble;

He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

30 His underparts arelikesharp potsherds;

He spreads outlikea threshing sledge on the mire.

31 He makes the depths boil like a pot;

He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

32 Behind him he makes a wake to shine;

One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

33 Nothing on earth is like him,

One made without fear.

34 He looks on everything that is high;

He is king over all the sons of pride.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JOB/41-bc3545ba74031bb0fb883a2bc7117b23.mp3?version_id=100—

Job’s Confession

1 Then Job answered the Lordand said,

2 “I know that You can do all things,

And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,

Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

4 ‘Hear, now, and I will speak;

I will ask You, and You instruct me.’

5 I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;

But now my eye sees You;

6 Therefore I retract,

And I repent in dust and ashes.”

God Displeased with Job’s Friends

7 It came about after the Lordhad spoken these words to Job, that the Lordsaid to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.

8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with youaccording to yourfolly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”

9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the ShuhiteandZophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lordtold them; and the Lordaccepted Job.

God Restores Job’s Fortunes

10 The Lordrestored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lordincreased all that Job had twofold.

11 Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lordhad brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

12 The Lordblessed the latterdaysof Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.

13 He had seven sons and three daughters.

14 He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.

15 In all the land no women were found so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations.

17 And Job died, an old man and full of days.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JOB/42-ef3bb103bdb543f41211b07585007ac2.mp3?version_id=100—