3“For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You?
         What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’

4“I will answer you,
         And your friends with you.

5“Look at the heavens and see;
         And behold the clouds—they are higher than you.

6“If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him?
         And if your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him?

7“If you are righteous, what do you give to Him,
         Or what does He receive from your hand?

8“Your wickedness is for a man like yourself,
         And your righteousness is for a son of man.

9“Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out;
         They cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.

10“But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
         Who gives songs in the night,

11Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth
         And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

12“There they cry out, but He does not answer
         Because of the pride of evil men.

13“Surely God will not listen to an empty cry,
         Nor will the Almighty regard it.

14“How much less when you say you do not behold Him,
         The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

15“And now, because He has not visited in His anger,
         Nor has He acknowledged transgression well,

16So Job opens his mouth emptily;
         He multiplies words without knowledge.”

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
That thou sayest, What advantage will it be unto thee? And , What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?

Douay-Rheims Bible
For thou saidst : That which is right doth not please thee : or what will it profit thee if I sin?

Darby Bible Translation
For thou hast asked of what profit it is unto thee: what do I gain more than if I had sinned?

English Revised Version
That thou sayest, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?

Webster's Bible Translation
For thou saidst, What advantage will it be to thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?

World English Bible
That you ask, 'What advantage will it be to you? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?'

Young's Literal Translation
For thou sayest, 'What doth it profit Thee! What do I profit from my sin?'Questions which Ought to be Asked
ELIHU PERCEIVED the great ones of the earth oppressing the needy, and he traced their domineering tyranny to their forgetfulness of God: "None saith, Where is God my Maker?" Surely, had they thought of God they could not have acted so unjustly. Worse still, if I understand Elihu aright, he complained that even among the oppressed there was the same departure in heart from the Lord: they cried out by reason of the arm of the mighty, but unhappily they did not cry unto God their Maker, though he waits …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 26: 1880

Songs in the Night
"But none saith, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night?"--Job 35:10. ELIHU was a wise man, exceeding wise, though not as wise as the all-wise Jehovah, who sees light in the clouds, and finds order in confusion; hence Elihu, being much puzzled at beholding Job thus afflicted, cast about him to find the cause of it, and he very wisely hit upon one of the most likely reasons, although it did not happen to be the right one in Job's case. He said within himself--"Surely, if men be tried …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 44: 1898

Spurgeon -- Songs in the Night
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was born at Kelvedon, Essex, England, in 1834. He was one of the most powerful and popular preachers of his time, and his extraordinary force of character and wonderful enthusiasm attracted vast audiences. His voice was unusually powerful, clear and melodious, and he used it with consummate skill. In the preparation of his sermons he meditated much but wrote not a word, so that he was in the truest sense a purely extemporaneous speaker. Sincerity, intensity, imagination and …
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 8

'Why Should I?'
Thou saidst, What advantage will it be? What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin? I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee.' (Job xxxv. 3, 4.) In reading these words I have no wish to enter into the controversy between Job and his friends as to the relationship of physical suffering to sin, but to emphasize a certain mental attitude which they indicate, and which often expresses itself in relation to other things. The human mind is so constituted that men will not commit …
T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service

The Introduction to the Work with Some General Account of Its Design
. 1, 2.That true religion is very rare, appears from comparing the nature of it with the lives and characters of men around us.--3. The want of it, matter of just lamentation.--4. To remedy this evil is the design of the ensuing Treatise.--5, 6. To which, therefore, the Author earnestly bespeaks the attention of the reader, as his own heart is deeply interested in it.--7 to 12. A general plan of the Work; of which the first fifteen chapters relate chiefly to the Rise of Religion, and the remaining …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

The New Song
Heinrich Suso Job xxxv. 10 O Lord, in my songs I have praised Thee For all that was sweet and was fair; And now a new song would I sing Thee, A song that is wondrous and rare. A song of the heart that is broken, A song of the sighs and the tears, The sickness, the want, and the sadness Of the days of our pilgrimage years. A song of the widows and orphans, Of the weary and hungry and sad-- Loud praise of the will Thou has broken, The will of the young and the glad. A song of the outcasts and martyrs, …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Whether the Motive of Anger is Always Something done against the one who is Angry?
Objection 1: It would seem that the motive of anger is not always something done against the one who is angry. Because man, by sinning, can do nothing against God; since it is written (Job 35:6): "If thy iniquities be multiplied, what shalt thou do against Him?" And yet God is spoken of as being angry with man on account of sin, according to Ps. 105:40: "The Lord was exceedingly angry with His people." Therefore it is not always on account of something done against him, that a man is angry. Objection …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether a Man May Merit Anything from God?
Objection 1: It would seem that a man can merit nothing from God. For no one, it would seem, merits by giving another his due. But by all the good we do, we cannot make sufficient return to God, since yet more is His due, as also the Philosopher says (Ethic. viii, 14). Hence it is written (Lk. 17:10): "When you have done all these things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to do." Therefore a man can merit nothing from God. Objection 2: Further, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Beneficence is an Act of Charity?
Objection 1: It would seem that beneficence is not an act of charity. For charity is chiefly directed to God. Now we cannot benefit God, according to Job 35:7: "What shalt thou give Him? or what shall He receive of thy hand?" Therefore beneficence is not an act of charity. Objection 2: Further, beneficence consists chiefly in making gifts. But this belongs to liberality. Therefore beneficence is an act of liberality and not of charity. Objection 3: Further, what a man gives, he gives either as being …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether a Human Action is Meritorious or Demeritorious Before God, According as it is Good or Evil?
Objection 1: It would seem that man's actions, good or evil, are not meritorious or demeritorious in the sight of God. Because, as stated above [1202](A[3]), merit and demerit imply relation to retribution for good or harm done to another. But a man's action, good or evil, does no good or harm to God; for it is written (Job 35:6,7): "If thou sin, what shalt thou hurt Him? . . . And if thou do justly, what shalt thou give Him?" Therefore a human action, good or evil, is not meritorious or demeritorious …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Sin is Aggravated by Reason of Its Causing More Harm?
Objection 1: It would seem that a sin is not aggravated by reason of its causing more harm. Because the harm done is an issue consequent to the sinful act. But the issue of an act does not add to its goodness or malice, as stated above ([1736]Q[20], A[5]). Therefore a sin is not aggravated on account of its causing more harm. Objection 2: Further, harm is inflicted by sins against our neighbor. Because no one wishes to harm himself: and no one can harm God, according to Job 35:6, 8: "If thy iniquities …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

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