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Then Elihu said:
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“Do you think it is right for you to claim,
‘I am righteous before God’?
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For you also ask, ‘What’s in it for me?
What’s the use of living a righteous life?’
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“I will answer you
and all your friends, too.
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Look up into the sky,
and see the clouds high above you.
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If you sin, how does that affect God?
Even if you sin again and again,
what effect will it have on him?
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If you are good, is this some great gift to him?
What could you possibly give him?
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No, your sins affect only people like yourself,
and your good deeds also affect only humans.
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“People cry out when they are oppressed.
They groan beneath the power of the mighty.
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Yet they don’t ask, ‘Where is God my Creator,
the one who gives songs in the night?
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Where is the one who makes us smarter than the animals
and wiser than the birds of the sky?’
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And when they cry out, God does not answer
because of their pride.
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But it is wrong to say God doesn’t listen,
to say the Almighty isn’t concerned.
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You say you can’t see him,
but he will bring justice if you will only wait. 1
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You say he does not respond to sinners with anger
and is not greatly concerned about wickedness. 2
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But you are talking nonsense, Job.
You have spoken like a fool.”