1Then Elihu continued,
2“Do you think this is your right, or do you say, ‘My righteousness is greater than God’s,’
3That you ask, ‘What good will it do Him? What benefit will I get, more than if I had sinned?’
4I will answer you and your friends with you.
5Look up at the heavens and see. Look at the skies, which are higher than you.
6If you have sinned, what impact does it have on Him? If your wrongdoings are many, 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 may harm a fellow human, and your righteousness may benefit another person.
9“Because of so much oppression, people cry out. They cry for help because of the power of the mighty.
10But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,
11who teaches us more than the animals of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’
12They cry out there, but no one answers, because of the pride of evil people.
13Surely God will not listen to an empty cry, nor will the Almighty pay attention to it.
14How much less when you say you don’t see Him. The case is before Him, and you wait for Him!
15But now, because He has not punished in His anger, nor does He care much about arrogance,
16Therefore, Job speaks with empty words, and he uses many words without knowledge.”