Elihu Asserts God’s Justice
1 Then Elihu answered and said:
2 “Hear my words, you wise men,
and give ear to me, you who know;
3 for ithe ear tests words
as the palate tastes food.
4 Let us choose what is right;
let us know among ourselves what is good.
5 For Job has said, ‘I am in the jright,
and kGod has taken away my right;
6 in spite of my right I am counted a liar;
my wound is incurable, though lI am without transgression.’
7 What man is like Job,
who mdrinks up scoffing like water,
8 who travels in company with evildoers
and walks with wicked men?
9 For he has said, n‘It profits a man nothing
that he should take delight in God.’
10 “Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding:
ofar be it from God that he should do wickedness,
and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.
11 For paccording to the work of a man he will repay him,
and according to his ways he will make it befall him.
12 Of a truth, qGod will not do wickedly,
and the Almighty will not rpervert justice.
13 sWho gave him charge over the earth,
and who laid on him1 the whole world?
14 If he should set his heart to it
and tgather to himself uhis spirit and his breath,
15 all flesh would perish together,
and man would vreturn to dust.
16 “If you have understanding, hear this;
listen to what I say.
17 Shall one who hates justice govern?
wWill you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,
18 who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’
and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’
19 who xshows no partiality to princes,
nor regards the rich more than the poor,
for ythey are all the work of his hands?
20 In a moment they die;
at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,
and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.
21 “For zhis eyes are on the ways of a man,
and he sees all his steps.
22 There is ano gloom or deep darkness
where evildoers may hide themselves.
23 For God2 has no need to consider a man further,
that he should go before God in judgment.
24 He shatters the mighty without investigation
and bsets others in their place.
25 Thus, knowing their works,
he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.
26 He strikes them for their wickedness
in a place for all to see,
27 because they turned aside from following him
and had no regard for any of his ways,
28 so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him,
and che heard the cry of the afflicted—
29 When he is quiet, who can condemn?
When he hides his face, who can behold him,
whether it be a nation or a man?—
30 that a godless man should not reign,
that he should not ensnare the people.
31 “For has anyone said to God,
‘I have borne punishment; I will not offend any more;
32 teach me what I do not see;
if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?
33 Will he then make repayment to suit you,
because you reject it?
For you must choose, and not I;
therefore declare what you know.3
34 Men of understanding will say to me,
and the wise man who hears me will say:
35 ‘Job speaks dwithout knowledge;
his words are without insight.’
36 Would that Job were tried to the end,
because he answers like wicked men.
37 For he adds rebellion to his sin;
he claps his hands among us
and emultiplies his words against God.”
Do Not Forsake Me, O Lord
A Psalm of David, bfor the memorial offering.
1 cO Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
2 For your darrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
4 For emy iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all the day I fgo about mourning.
7 For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and gthe light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and hmy nearest kin stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.
13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like a imute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
15 But for you, O Lord, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
who boast against me when my foot slips!”
17 For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who jrender me evil for good
accuse me because I follow after good.
21 kDo not forsake me, O Lord!
O my God, lbe not far from me!
22 mMake haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!
Rebuilding Begins Anew
1 Now the prophets, hHaggai and iZechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
3 At the same time jTattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to kfinish this structure?” 4 They also asked them this:1 “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” 5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.
Tattenai’s Letter to King Darius
6 lThis is a copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. 7 They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. 8 Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. 9 Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ 10 We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.2 11 And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the mGod of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was nbuilt many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, ohe gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. 13 However, pin the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. 14 And the gold and silver qvessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, rthese Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was sSheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; 15 and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” 16 Then this Sheshbazzar came and tlaid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.’ 17 Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let usearch be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”
Wait for the God of Salvation
1 Woe is me! For I have become
as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
as when the grapes have been gleaned:
lthere is no cluster to eat,
no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
2 mThe godly has perished from the earth,
and there is no one upright among mankind;
they all lie in wait for blood,
and each hunts the other with a net.
3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
the prince and the judge ask for a nbribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
now their confusion is at hand.
5 oPut no trust in a neighbor;
have no confidence in a friend;
guard the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your arms;1
6 for pthe son treats the father with contempt,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light to me.
9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
until he qpleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication.
10 Then my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her who said to me,
r“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look upon her;
now she will be trampled down
like the mire of the streets.
11 A day for the building of your walls!
In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
12 In that day they2 will come to you,
sfrom Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,3
from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13 But the earth will be desolate
because of its inhabitants,
for the fruit of their deeds.
14 tShepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
in the midst of a garden land;4
ulet them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old.
15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them5 marvelous things.
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
their ears shall be deaf;
17 they shall vlick the dust like a serpent,
like the crawling things of the earth;
they shall wcome trembling out of their strongholds;
they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
and they shall be in fear of you.
God’s Steadfast Love and Compassion
18 xWho is a God like you, ypardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the zremnant of his inheritance?
aHe does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and steadfast love to Abraham,
cas you have sworn to our fathers
from the days of old.
Warning Against Worldliness
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions1 are at twar within you?2 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, ubecause you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask vwrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You wadulterous people!3 xDo you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the yspirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, z“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. aResist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 bDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you cdouble-minded. 9 dBe wretched and mourn and weep. eLet your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 fHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.4 The one who speaks against a brother or gjudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one hlawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. iBut who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, j“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet kyou do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a lmist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, m“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. nAll such boasting is evil. 17 oSo whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
