And you Israelites say, 'What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right.

"And your people say that what I do isn't right! No, it's their way that isn't right.

But Israel, you say that what I do isn't right. I am going to judge you by what you do."

But a bystander named Elihu could not control his anger any longer, because Job was justifying himself and blaming God. (Elihu was the son of Barakel, a descendant of Buz, and belonged to the clan of Ram.)

Job claims that he is innocent, that God refuses to give him justice.

Have you ever seen anyone like this man Job? He never shows respect for God.

He says that it never does any good to try to follow God's will.

(SEE 35:1)

Are you trying to prove that I am unjust--- to put me in the wrong and yourself in the right?

You told me to listen while you spoke and to try to answer your questions.

So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes.

You have tired the LORD out with your talk. But you ask, "How have we tired him?" By saying, "The LORD Almighty thinks all evildoers are good; in fact he likes them." Or by asking, "Where is the God who is supposed to be just?"

"You have said terrible things about me," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'What have we said about you?'

As we see it, proud people are the ones who are happy. Evil people not only prosper, but they test God's patience with their evil deeds and get away with it.' "

They took their money and started grumbling against the employer.

'Listen, friend,' the owner answered one of them, 'I have not cheated you. After all, you agreed to do a day's work for one silver coin.

Don't I have the right to do as I wish with my own money? Or are you jealous because I am generous?' "

But what if our doing wrong serves to show up more clearly God's doing right? Can we say that God does wrong when he punishes us? (This would be the natural question to ask.)

For no one is put right in God's sight by doing what the Law requires; what the Law does is to make us know that we have sinned.

But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, "Why did you make me like this?"

They have not known the way in which God puts people right with himself, and instead, they have tried to set up their own way; and so they did not submit themselves to God's way of putting people right.

Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly."

"The LORD is your mighty defender, perfect and just in all his ways; Your God is faithful and true; he does what is right and fair.

The heavens proclaim that God is righteous, that he himself is judge.

The LORD is righteous in all he does, merciful in all his acts.

" LORD, if I argued my case with you, you would prove to be right. Yet I must question you about matters of justice. Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why do dishonest people succeed?

But the LORD is still in the city; he does what is right and never what is wrong. Every morning without fail, he brings justice to his people. And yet the unrighteous people there keep on doing wrong and are not ashamed.

But you have a hard and stubborn heart, and so you are making your own punishment even greater on the Day when God's anger and righteous judgments will be revealed.

For God will reward each of us according to what we have done.

You have done all this, and I have said nothing, so you thought that I am like you. But now I reprimand you and make the matter plain to you.

Israel, you brought this on yourself ! You deserted me, the LORD your God, while I was leading you along the way.

Your own evil will punish you, and your turning from me will condemn you. You will learn how bitter and wrong it is to abandon me, the LORD your God, and no longer to remain faithful to me. I, the Sovereign LORD Almighty, have spoken."

I planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. But look what you have become! You are like a rotten, worthless vine.

How can you say you have not defiled yourself, that you have never worshiped Baal? Look how you sinned in the valley; see what you have done. You are like a wild camel in heat, running around loose,

What is your complaint? Why have you rebelled against me?

People of Israel, listen to what I am saying. Have I been like a desert to you, like a dark and dangerous land? Why, then, do you say that you will do as you please, that you will never come back to me?

You certainly know how to chase after lovers. Even the worst of women can learn from you.

you say, 'I am innocent; surely the LORD is no longer angry with me.' But I, the LORD, will punish you because you deny that you have sinned.

You will turn away from Egypt, hanging your head in shame. I, the LORD, have rejected those you trust; you will not gain anything from them."

"When you tell them all this, they will ask you why I have decided to punish them so harshly. They will ask what crime they are guilty of and what sin they have committed against the LORD their God.

But you have done even worse than your ancestors. All of you are stubborn and evil, and you do not obey me.