וַיַּעַן אֱלִיהוּ וַיֹּאמַר׃

Elihu, continuing his repudiation of Job and his assertions, answered and said:

הֲזֹאת חָשַׁבְתָּ לְמִשְׁפָּט אָמַרְתָּ צִדְקִי מֵאֵל

Is this what you consider justice, to enter into judgment with God? Alternatively, do you think that you speak rightly? You say: My righteousness is greater than God’s!

כִּי תֹאמַר מַה־יִּסְכָּן לָךְ מָה־אֹעִיל מֵחַטָּאתִי

When you think it proper to ask: What use will it be for you, the righteous? What do you gain by following the upright path? What advantage will it, my righteousness, be for me more than from my sinning? Whichever course of action I choose, my fate will be the same.

אֲנִי אֲשִׁיבְךָ מִלִּין וְאֶת־רֵעֶיךָ עִמָּךְ

I will answer you about this with words, and even your friends with you.

הַבֵּט שָׁמַיִם וּרְאֵה וְשׁוּר שְׁחָקִים גָּבְהוּ מִמֶּךָּ

Look heavenward and see what you can, and see the skies; they are so much loftier than you. When you speak of God’s judgment, you must take into account that you are no more than a small, ignorant creature standing before the great, mighty God. Perhaps you require your claims of righteousness and good deeds for your own personal needs, but you simply do not have the capacity to perceive the larger picture of reality.

אִם־חָטָאתָ מַה־תִּפְעָל־בּוֹ וְרַבּוּ פְשָׁעֶיךָ מַה־תַּעֲשֶׂה־לּוֹ

If you have sinned, how have you acted against Him? How do you harm Him? If your transgressions proliferate, what will you have done to Him?

אִם־צָדַקְתָּ מַה־תִּתֶּן־לוֹ אוֹ מַה־מִּיָּדְךָ יִקָּח

Likewise, if you are righteous, what have you given Him, or what has He taken from your hand? Some mistakenly think that if they have fulfilled God’s commandments, then they have helped Him in some way. However, the actions of such a puny creature as you, whether for good or evil, have no discernible effect on the infinite God.

לְאִישׁ־כָּמוֹךָ רִשְׁעֶךָ וּלְבֶן־אָדָם צִדְקָתֶךָ

Your wickedness is for a man like you, your evil acts can only harm a man like yourself, and your righteousness can bring benefit for a person, but all this has no meaning for God.

מֵרֹב עֲשׁוּקִים יַזְעִיקוּ יְשַׁוְּעוּ מִזְּרוֹעַ רַבִּים

From conflict the exploited cry out. Due to fights and theft, the oppressed victims cry out. They beg and plead due to the arm of many, because of the forceful acts of the many oppressors and robbers.

וְלֹא־אָמַר אַיֵּה אֱלוֹהַּ עֹשָׂי נֹתֵן זְמִרוֹת בַּלָּיְלָה

But he didn’t say, or it is not right that one should say in accusation: Where is God my Maker, who allows mishaps, who allows people to cut down others and cause damage, in the night, when no one is watching, as social crime is man’s responsibility,

מַלְּפֵנוּ מִבַּהֲמוֹת אָרֶץ וּמֵעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם יְחַכְּמֵנוּ

who teaches us through the animals of the earth and makes us wiser from the birds of the heavens? God provides us with instruction through the behavior of the beasts and birds.

שָׁם יִצְעֲקוּ וְלֹא יַעֲנֶה מִפְּנֵי גְּאוֹן רָעִים

There they cry, but He does not respond, because of the pride of the evil. When one reflects upon the quarrels of animals, he sees that they cry, but no one answers, because of the pride of the vicious beasts that attack them. One should learn from packs of wolves, flocks of sheep, and hunted birds not to involve God in disputes arising from the actions of other people.

אַךְ־שָׁוְא לֹא־יִשְׁמַע אֵל וְשַׁדַּי לֹא יְשׁוּרֶנָּה

Although God does not always respond to the cries of living creatures, it is vanity, in vain, to say that God does not hear and that the Almighty will not see it, your distress.

אַף כִּי־תֹאמַר לֹא תְשׁוּרֶנּוּ דִּין לְפָנָיו וּתְחוֹלֵל לוֹ

Although you say you do not see Him or His righteous judgment, the case is before Him, and you must wait and hope for Him, as His righteous judgment will eventually be revealed.

וְעַתָּה כִּי־אַיִן פָּקַד אַפּוֹ וְלֹא־יָדַע בַּפַּשׁ מְאֹד

Now, as you do not, as you do not have hope and will not wait for Him patiently, you think that He visited His wrath upon you and afflicted you unjustly in His rage and did not know its great extent. It seems to you as though God is completely unaware of your great cry.

וְאִיּוֹב הֶבֶל יִפְצֶה פִּיהוּ בִּבְלִי־דַעַת מִלִּין יַכְבִּר

Elihu ends this section by referring to Job in the third person: Job, in his failure to wait for God to reveal the righteousness of His judgment, futility issues from his mouth; he proliferates words without knowledge.