The Trial of Job

Elihu's Long Speech

We may imagine that Elihu's speech kept the attention of the audience while a tent was raised over them. The darkness inside the tent enabled the storm effects of chapters 36 and 37. Then, after the storm, the mainstay was loosened, collapsing the tent with a rush. In the sudden brightness, God of the poetry would have dazzled with his polished obsidian dress spotlit by mirrors. "Wise men do not look at him."

Elihu's speech can be cut considerably. However long it is, the lights should gradually dim until there is total darkness except for the lightning flashes during the storm. When God appears, all the lights should be turned up full and the most powerful spots obtainable thrown on the figure of God.

Elihu comes out of the audience onto the stage. He is a young man, perhaps a graduate student, dressed casually in modern dress.

^32:6So Elihu, son of Barachel the Buzite, spoke out saying: I am young and you are old; I was afraid and did not dare To tell you what I know. ⁷Days should speak, I thought, Advancing years expound their wisdom. ⁸Yet in mortal man it is the spirit And the breath of God that gives understanding. ⁹Wisdom does not belong to age, Nor sound judgment to the elderly.		Speaking to Job's friends - 2nd person plural.
¹⁰Listen, then, I say, I will tell you what I know. ¹¹I waited for your words And I listened to your arguments, As you searched out what to say. ¹²Yes, I listened most attentatively, But you did not prove Job wrong, Nor give reply to what he said. ¹³And lest you say, "We have found wisdom; God will defeat him, not man," remember, ¹⁴He has not drawn up his words against me, Nor will I use your words to answer him. ¹⁵Amazed and forsaken by speech, They respond no more. ¹⁶Am I to wait when they do not reply, When they stop, nonplused? ¹⁷I, too, will have my say And tell you what I know. ¹⁸For I am full of words, With a wind bloated belly ¹⁹Like an unvented wine, Like new wineskins ready to burst. ²⁰I must speak to find relief; I must open my mouth and answer. ²¹But let me curry no man's favor, please, Nor address a man with honorific titles. ²²For I have no skill in flattery; Upon my Maker I rely to carry me. ^33:1Now hear my words, Job, I pray you, Give ear to all I say. ²My jaws move, and, see,		To the crowd. Addressing Job - 2nd person singular. To Job's friends again - 2nd person plural. Addressing Job.
My tongue clicks from the roof of my mouth! ³Straight from my heart I speak; My lips tell only what they know -- ⁴That God's spirit made me And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. ⁵Answer me then, if you can. Prepare yourself to take a stand. ⁶For I am a man the same as you, not a god; I am shaped from clay as you were. ⁷No dread of me will terrify you, Nor hand of mine be heavy upon you. ⁸But something that I heard you say Kept sounding in my ears. ⁹"I am innocent," you said, "and undefiled, Without offense or guilt. ¹⁰Yet he finds occasions against me And he counts me as his enemy. ¹¹He shackles my ankles And watches all my paths." ¹²But I tell you, in this you are not right, Because God is much greater than man. ¹³And why do you complain against him That he will not answer your words? ¹⁴God does speak, once, Twice, but no one notices.		With a cluck.
¹⁵In a dream, in a vision of the night, When slumber falls on men Sleeping on their beds, ¹⁶He uncovers their ears And whispers his warning ¹⁷To turn a man back from his deed And keep him from pride, ¹⁸To spare his soul from the pit, His life from crossing that infernal stream. ¹⁹Or he is chastened upon a bed of pain By an endless struggle in his bones. ²⁰His appetite turns from food And even the finest dish revolts him. ²¹His flesh wastes from sight And his bones come to light that were hid. ²²His soul draws near to the pit, His life to the messengers of death. ²³But if there be an angel to plead for him, One of a thousand to intercede for him, To declare the man's uprightness, ²⁴Who will have mercy upon him, saying "Spare him from going down to the pit, For I have found his ransom," ²⁵Then his flesh is made newer than a child's And he returns to the lusty days of his youth. ²⁶He prays to God and God looks kindly upon him; He sees his face and shouts for joy; Then God returns to him his righteousness. ²⁷In the company of his fellow man again, he says "I sinned and twisted what was right, Yet he did not make me pay in full, ²⁸But ransomed my soul from the pit And let me live to see the light." ²⁹Now all these things God does Twice, even three times, for a man, ³⁰Rescuing his soul from the pit That life's light might shine upon him. ³¹Listen, Job, mark me well. Be silent and I will speak, ³²Or answer. If you have anything to say, Speak. Your righteousness is my delight! ³³If not, then listen to me; Hold your peace and I will teach you wisdom.		With a glance at Eliphaz. Sees God's face.
^34:1Then Elihu continued, saying: ²Wise men, hear my words; You that know, give ear, ³For the ear can tell a word As the tongue tells a taste. ⁴Let us decide what is just And agree among us what is good. ⁵Job has said, "I am innocent; God has robbed me of my right. ⁶He lies about my case; His arrows are deadly though I have not sinned." ⁷Now what about a man like Job, With his thirst for irreverent talk, ⁸Who keeps company with evildoers And walks with the wicked? ⁹For he has said, "It profits a man nothing To seek God's favor." ¹⁰So hear me, if you have good sense. Evil be far from God, Wrongdoing far from the Almighty! ¹¹He pays a man for what he does And rewards him according to his ways. ¹²God does not act wickedly, Nor does the Almighty pervert justice. ¹³Or who was it gave him charge over the world And put all the earth in his care? ¹⁴If he called back his concern And withdrew his spirit and his breath, ¹⁵Then all flesh would expire together And man would return to the dust.		Addressing the crowd. Meaning Job's friends. Still addressing the crowd.
¹⁶If you have understanding, listen, Pay heed to what I say. ¹⁷Does one hating right rule? Or will you condemn the just and mighty one, ¹⁸Who tells a king he is a villain, Great men that they are wicked? ¹⁹He is not partial to princes, Nor favors rich over poor, For they are all the work of his hands. ²⁰In a moment they die, yes, unwarned, at night; A city is shaken and it goes; The mighty are taken and it is no man's deed. ²¹For his eyes are upon a man's ways; He watches his every step. ²²There is no darkness deep enough, no shadow, To hide an evildoing man. ²³And he appoints no man a time To come before him in judgment. ²⁴God shatters the mighty without a trial And sets another in the tyrant's stead. ²⁵Because he knows their deeds, He overturns them in a night and they are crushed. ²⁶Or he strikes them down like criminals In the open square for all to see -- ²⁷Because they have turned aside from him And think nothing of his ways, ²⁸Or because the oppressed have cried out to him And he heard the cry of the needy. ²⁹But if he is unmoved, who can condemn him? And if he averts his face, If he turns from nation or man alike, ³⁰From the ungodly ruler Or from a stubborn people, who can find him? ³¹Has he said to God, "I have suffered, I mean no offense. ³²Teach me that I may see; If I have done wrong, I will do so no more?" ³³Must God make good your every wish? This power to reject and choose, Is it yours and not mine? Come, tell us what you know! ³⁴Thoughtful men will say to me, Yes, the wise man that hears me will agree: ³⁵Job speaks without knowledge Words without insight. ³⁶Let Job be tried to the end, my Father, For he answers with the wicked. ³⁷And he adds to his sin When he denies his transgression among us And multiplies his words against God! ^35:1Then Elihu continued, saying: ²Do you think it is right To say you are innocent before God, ³You who ask what profit is yours? "What will I gain from not sinning?" ⁴I give you words for thought, you And your friends with you. ⁵Look to the heavens and open your eyes; See the clouds so high above you. ⁶If you sin, what do you do to him? If you multiply your misdeeds, what? ⁷If you are righteous, what do you give to him? What does he receive from your hand? ⁸Wicked or righteous, 'tis a man like yourself That you help or you hurt -- your fellow man. ⁹Cruelly oppressed, the people cry out Seeking help against the violence of the mighty. ¹⁰But no one asks, "Where is God my Maker?" -- The one who gives courage in the night ¹¹And teaches us to be more than desert beasts, Wiser than the birds of the air. ¹²There they are, crying out, and he does not answer -- Because they are wicked and proud! ¹³Of course God does not hear their empty cries! Of course the Almighty takes no notice! ¹⁴And you say you do not see him, That your case is before him, waiting! ¹⁵Even, because his anger does not strike, That he does not mark transgression well! ¹⁶Job's argument is idle; He multiplies words without knowledge.		Speaking to Job -- 2nd person singular. Addressing the crowd. To Job again -- 2nd person singular. To the crowd. Praying to God. To the crowd. "No! Job is innocent before God." is the cry of the crowd. Addressing Job -- 2nd person singular. The crowd shouts its agreement. "Now you've got it right!" No! No! shouts the crowd. Challenging the crowd.
^36:1Then Elihu continued, saying: ²Attend me. I will show you what I mean, For I have something yet to say on God's behalf. ³I will reveal what I learned in a distant land That I may prove my Maker just. ⁴Truly, I tell no lie; One perfect in knowledge is with you. ⁵Behold, God is mighty, yet he does not disdain; He is mighty in the strength of his understanding. ⁶He does not preserve the wicked And to the oppressed he gives justice. ⁷He does not turn from the righteous; He seats them with kings on their thrones, Exalted forever! ⁸Or if they are fettered, Held in the cords of their affliction, ⁹Then he tells them what they have done, Their sin and their insolence. ¹⁰He opens their ear to discipline And orders them back from evil. ¹¹If they hear and obey, Then their days prosper to the end And their years are a comfort. ¹²But if they will not listen, Then they cross that river And die without knowledge. ¹³Yes, the ungodly at heart do not cry for mercy, But store up anger when he straitens them. ¹⁴Their soul perishes in youth; Their life is with the angels. ¹⁵Those who suffer, he delivers by their suffering; He speaks to them through their affliction. ¹⁶You he lured forth from the jaws of pain To a broad and unfenced plain, To a table laden with rich food. ¹⁷And full you are -- of judgment against the wicked! Judgment and justice will take hold; ¹⁸So beware, let not affluence mislead you, Nor let the greatness of the ransom deter you. ¹⁹Will riches answer to him for your trouble, All the power of your wealth? ²⁰Nor look to the night when peoples Vanish in their place. ²¹Beware, lest you turn to evil, For this is the reason of your affliction.		To Job again -- 2nd person singular. Crowd hoots, is silent. "Mercy, mercy!" The crowd makes fun of Elihu. To Job still -- 2nd person singular.

Continued...
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last changed January 22, 2002