1 Ipapo Elihu kati,
2 “Ihwani matama angu, imwi balume bakatjenjela,
mundibhulutane, imwi banoziba,
3 Zebe dzohwa kene matama ezipa,
koga se lulimi gulabila zojiwa kuti kene zozipa.
4 Ngati shaluleni tjakalulwama,
ngatiboneni pakati kwedu kuti tjakalulwama ini.
5 Ngoti Jobe iye wati, ‘Andina nlandu,
koga Ndzimu unolandula ndulamo yangu,
6 nenguba ndisina nlandu, ndotogwa ndili nnyepi,
mbonje yangu aitopola nenguba ndisina tjandatjinya.’
7 Ndiupi nthu unonga Jobe kene,
iye unong'wa madado se vula kene?
8 Unogala ntutshi ne banothama mbipo,
unoshingidzana ne bathu babi.
9 Unoti, ‘Akutobhatsha tjimwe
kushathila Ndzimu.’
10 “Ndizo mundibhulutane imwi balume be hwisiso,
ngakube kule kule ne Ndzimu kuti ungathama bubi,
kukule na Masimbawose kuti ashinge tjisiitjo.
11 Unopa bathu mbayilo kuyendidzana ne zwabathama
unopa mmwe ne mmwe kwa kanfanila.
12 Ngelebeswa Ndzimu aaungathame bubi
Masimbawose abangapambuse tjakatambunuka.
13 Apa ndiani wakaupa simba le kulaula shango kene,
ndiani wakaupa ndaulo ye shango yose kene?
14 Ha Ndzimu ungazwitolegwa meya yawo,
ukazwikubunganyigwa mafemo awo,
15 ipapo bathu bose babe bewofa,
bebgwilila mu hwuluba.
16 “Ha una kuhwisisa, ihwa woku,
bhulutana tjandinoleba.
17 Apa iye usingade ndulamo ungabusa kene?
Apa ungasola iye wakalulwama ne una masimba?
18 Apa ate iwo unodwa bomambo uti ate betjimwe kene?
Apa ate iwo unodwa banotolegwa pezhugwi uti babi kene?
19 Automa ne balauli
kene kuli kutolela bafumi pezhugwi kupinda bashayi,
ngobe ibo bose nshingo we maboko awo.
20 Tingana tikafa takafala busiku.
Ndzimu unotiloba tikafa
bakasima unobalabhulila kutjena nge tjinyala.
21 “Ngoti mesho awo anobona zila dze nthu,
unobona thambo dzidze dzose.
22 Akuna zhalima lakati zwititi,
lingabgwata banothama bubi.
23 Ndzimu autosheta kuti ungabigila nthu tjibaka,
kuti azhe mbeli kwawo mu kusumikilisiwa.
24 Unolobesa bana masimba kuzhe kwe kushakisisa,
kabiga bamwe mu magalo abo.
25 Ngobe unoziba zwabanothama,
unobadusila kutjena kabalobesa tjinyolotjo.
26 Unoloba shamu banothama bubi,
mbeli kwe mmwe ne mmwe akalinga,
27 ngobe bakaufupatila,
bakasibe ne hanya nge zila dzawo.
28 Bakakombeledza bashayi kuti balilile ku Ndzimu
ngono ukahwa tjililo tjabo bekumbila bhatsho.
29 Ngono koga ha Ndzimu unganyalala zwawo,
ndiani ungautilika nlandu kene?
Ha ungasumbika buso gwawo, ndiani ungaubona kene?
Ngoti upezhugwi kwe itjaba ne nthu ngofanana,
30 ngoti akuna nthu usina Ndzimu ungabusa,
ngoti ungayisa bathu ku ndashiko koga.
31 “Kuna wakatongoti ku Ndzimu,
‘Ndi nlandu koga anditjowotjinya kakale,
32 undidiye tjandisingabone,
ha ndina nlandu, anditjowothama kakale.’
33 Apa unoti uthame tjinoshakwa ndiwe kene,
koga iwe ulamba kushanduka kene?
Ndiwe wakafanila kutola thambo kusi imi,
Ndizo kee leba tjaunoziba.
34 Bathu bana hwisiso banoti kundili,
ne wakatjenjela unohwa tjandinoleba unowoti,
35 ‘Jobe unoleba ngoshaya luzibo,
matama awe aatopa tjedza.’
36 Kanukani tjinolebgwa ndi Jobe,
nge kuti unolebeleka koga se nthu mbi.
37 Unopapha jinyo lile nge kupanduka,
unodadila Ndzimu mbeli kwedu,
unowatsha matama awe enyanyayidza Ndzimu.”
1-2 You men are so wise, so clever;
listen now to what I am saying.
3 You know good food when you taste it,
but not wise words when you hear them.
4 It is up to us to decide the case.
5 Job claims that he is innocent,
that God refuses to give him justice.
6 He asks, “How could I lie and say I am wrong?
I am fatally wounded, but I am sinless.”
7 Have you ever seen anyone like this man Job?
He never shows respect for God.
8 He likes the company of evil people
and goes around with sinners.
9 He says that it never does any good
to try to follow God's will.
10 Listen to me, you men who understand!
Will Almighty God do what is wrong?
11 He rewards people for what they do
and treats them as they deserve.
12 Almighty God does not do evil;
he is never unjust to anyone.
13 Did God get his power from someone else?
Did someone put him in charge of the world?
14 If God took back the breath of life,
15 then everyone living would die
and turn into dust again.
16 Now listen to me, if you are wise.
17 Are you condemning the righteous God?
Do you think that he hates justice?
18 God condemns kings and rulers
when they are worthless or wicked.
19 He does not take the side of rulers
nor favor the rich over the poor,
for he created everyone.
20 We may suddenly die at night.
God strikes us down and we perish;
he kills the mighty with no effort at all.
21 He watches every step we take.
22 There is no darkness dark enough
to hide a sinner from God.
23 God does not need to set a time
for us to go and be judged by him.
24 He does not need an investigation
to remove leaders and replace them with others.
25 Because he knows what they do;
he overthrows them and crushes them by night.
26 He punishes sinners where all can see it,
27 because they have stopped following him
and ignored all his commands.
28 They forced the poor to cry out to God,
and he heard their calls for help.
29 If God decided to do nothing at all,
no one could criticize him.
If he hid his face, we would be helpless.
30 There would be nothing that nations could do
to keep godless oppressors from ruling them.
31 Job, have you confessed your sins to God
and promised not to sin again?
32 Have you asked God to show you your faults,
and have you agreed to stop doing evil?
33 Since you object to what God does,
can you expect him to do what you want?
The decision is yours, not mine;
tell us now what you think.
34 Any sensible person will surely agree;
and the wise who hear me will say
35 that Job is speaking from ignorance
and that nothing he says makes sense.
36 Think through everything that Job says;
you will see that he talks like an evil man.
37 To his sins he adds rebellion;
in front of us all he mocks God.