Verse 12. — For truly God will not condemn without cause, nor will the Almighty subvert judgment. 45. God's judgments are just, even though hidden. — To the devil the Lord says: You moved me against him, that I should afflict him without cause (Job 2:3). But Elihu says: For the Lord will not condemn without cause. This indeed is thought to be at variance with the words of Truth, unless it be weighed with subtle consideration. For it is one thing to condemn, another to afflict. He afflicts, therefore, in some respect without cause, but he does not condemn without cause. Or did he not in some respect afflict Job without cause, when no vice was being blotted out, but his merit was being increased?
For he cannot condemn without cause, because condemnation cannot be done in part with regard to something, seeing that at the last it punishes all that anyone has here iniquitously committed. Nor does the Almighty God subvert judgment, because although the things we suffer seem to be less right, yet they are rightly decreed in his hidden examination. There follows: