“ Yet you say,‘ The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you?

“你们还说：‘主的道不公平！’以色列家啊，你们当听，我的道岂不公平吗？你们的道岂不是不公平吗？

“你们却说：‘主的道不公平！’以色列家啊，你们要听，我的道不公平吗？你们的道不是不公平吗？

“你们却说：‘主的道不公平！’以色列家啊，你们要听，我的道不公平吗？你们的道不是不公平吗？

“你们说，主这样做不公平。以色列人啊，你们听着，是我的做法不公平呢？还是你们的做法不公平呢？

“你们还说：‘主所行的不公平。’以色列家啊，你们要听！我所行的哪里不公平呢？岂不是你们所行的不公平吗？

「你們還說：『主的道不公平！』以色列家啊，你們當聽，我的道豈不公平嗎？你們的道豈不是不公平嗎？

「你們卻說：『主的道不公平！』以色列家啊，你們要聽，我的道不公平嗎？你們的道不是不公平嗎？

「你們卻說：『主的道不公平！』以色列家啊，你們要聽，我的道不公平嗎？你們的道不是不公平嗎？

「你們說，主這樣做不公平。以色列人啊，你們聽著，是我的做法不公平呢？還是你們的做法不公平呢？

“你們還說：‘主所行的不公平。’以色列家啊，你們要聽！我所行的哪裡不公平呢？豈不是你們所行的不公平嗎？

『你們還說：「主所行的不公正。」以色列家啊，你們要聽！我所行的哪裏是不公正呢？豈不是你們所行的不公正麼？

惟爾曹云、主道不公、以色列家其聽之、我之道、豈非公乎、爾之道、豈非不公乎、

爾言我耶和華所行、不尚正直、以色列族宜聽我言、我所行者、惟秉大公、爾所為者、尚存偏頗。

爾曹猶言主之道不公平、不公平或作不相宜下同以色列族聽歟、我之道豈不公平、惟爾曹之道不公平、

“ Yet you say,‘ The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

“ But you say,‘ What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ Listen to me, you Israelites. What I do is always fair. What you do is not.

“ Yet you say,‘ The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?

“ But you say,‘ The Lord’s way isn’t fair.’ Now listen, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair? Instead, isn’t it your ways that are unfair?

Yet you say,‘ The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?

“ Yet you say,‘ The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?

Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?

“ But you say,‘ The Lord’s way isn’t fair.’ Now listen, house of Israel: Is it My way that is unfair? Instead, isn’t it your ways that are unfair?

Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?

“ Yet you say,‘ The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my conduct unjust? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

“ Yet you say,‘ The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal?

“ You have said terrible things about me,” says the Lord.“ But you say,‘ What do you mean? What have we said against you?’“ You have said,‘ What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins?From now on we will call the arrogant blessed. For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them suffer no harm.’”

“ Your people are saying,‘ The Lord isn’t doing what’s right,’ but it is they who are not doing what’s right.

Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

Lord, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you. So let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy?

O people of Israel, you are saying,‘ The Lord isn’t doing what’s right.’ But I judge each of you according to your deeds.”

You have wearied the Lord with your words.“ How have we wearied him?” you ask. You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking,“ Where is the God of justice?”

But the Lord is still there in the city, and he does no wrong. Day by day he hands down justice, and he does not fail. But the wicked know no shame.

And yet the people of Israel keep saying,‘ The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.

He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!

No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it,“ Why have you made me like this?”

Then let the heavens proclaim his justice, for God himself will be the judge. Interlude

You said,‘ Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

“ But,” some might say,“ our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?”( This is merely a human point of view.)

And you have brought this upon yourselves by rebelling against the Lord your God, even though he was leading you on the way!“ What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt and your covenants with Assyria? What good to you are the streams of the Nile or the waters of the Euphrates River?Your wickedness will bring its own punishment. Your turning from me will shame you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the Lord your God and not to fear him. I, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!“ Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you and tore away the chains of your slavery, but still you said,‘ I will not serve you.’ On every hill and under every green tree, you have prostituted yourselves by bowing down to idols.But I was the one who planted you, choosing a vine of the purest stock— the very best. How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine?No amount of soap or lye can make you clean. I still see the stain of your guilt. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!“ You say,‘ That’s not true! I haven’t worshiped the images of Baal!’ But how can you say that? Go and look in any valley in the land! Face the awful sins you have done. You are like a restless female camel desperately searching for a mate.

The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.

“ Will you discredit my justice and condemn me just to prove you are right?

“ Do you think it is right for you to claim,‘ I am righteous before God’?

When they received their pay, they protested to the owner,‘ Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’“ He answered one of them,‘ Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage?Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you.Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the clan of Ram, became angry. He was angry because Job refused to admit that he had sinned and that God was right in punishing him.

While you did all this, I remained silent, and you thought I didn’t care. But now I will rebuke you, listing all my charges against you.

For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

For Job also said,‘ I am innocent, but God has taken away my rights.I am innocent, but they call me a liar. My suffering is incurable, though I have not sinned.’“ Tell me, has there ever been a man like Job, with his thirst for irreverent talk?He chooses evil people as companions. He spends his time with wicked men.He has even said,‘ Why waste time trying to please God?’“ Listen to me, you who have understanding. Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin! The Almighty can do no wrong.

Why do you accuse me of doing wrong? You are the ones who have rebelled,” says the Lord.“ I have punished your children, but they did not respond to my discipline. You yourselves have killed your prophets as a lion kills its prey.“ O my people, listen to the words of the Lord! Have I been like a desert to Israel? Have I been to them a land of darkness? Why then do my people say,‘ At last we are free from God! We don’t need him anymore!’Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? Yet for years on end my people have forgotten me.“ How you plot and scheme to win your lovers. Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you!Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor, though you didn’t catch them breaking into your houses!And yet you say,‘ I have done nothing wrong. Surely God isn’t angry with me!’ But now I will punish you severely because you claim you have not sinned.First here, then there— you flit from one ally to another asking for help. But your new friends in Egypt will let you down, just as Assyria did before.In despair, you will be led into exile with your hands on your heads, for the Lord has rejected the nations you trust. They will not help you at all.

“ When you tell the people all these things, they will ask,‘ Why has the Lord decreed such terrible things against us? What have we done to deserve such treatment? What is our sin against the Lord our God?’“ Then you will give them the Lord’s reply:‘ It is because your ancestors were unfaithful to me. They worshiped other gods and served them. They abandoned me and did not obey my word.And you are even worse than your ancestors! You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me.So I will throw you out of this land and send you into a foreign land where you and your ancestors have never been. There you can worship idols day and night— and I will grant you no favors!’

For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.

But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.He will judge everyone according to what they have done.