Job 36

¹Elihu continued:

²“Bear with me a little longer and I will show you

that there is more to be said in God’s behalf.

³I get my knowledge from afar;

I will ascribe justice to my Maker.

⁴Be assured that my words are not false;

one who has perfect knowledge is with you.

⁵“God is mighty, but despises no one;

he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.

⁶He does not keep the wicked alive

but gives the afflicted their rights.

⁷He does not take his eyes off the righteous;

he enthrones them with kings

and exalts them forever.

⁸But if people are bound in chains,

held fast by cords of affliction,

⁹he tells them what they have done—

that they have sinned arrogantly.

¹⁰He makes them listen to correction

and commands them to repent of their evil.

¹¹If they obey and serve him,

they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity

and their years in contentment.

¹²But if they do not listen,

they will perish by the sword

and die without knowledge.

¹³“The godless in heart harbor resentment;

even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help.

¹⁴They die in their youth,

among male prostitutes of the shrines.

¹⁵But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering;

he speaks to them in their affliction.

¹⁶“He is wooing you from the jaws of distress

to a spacious place free from restriction,

to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.

¹⁷But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked;

judgment and justice have taken hold of you.

¹⁸Be careful that no one entices you by riches;

do not let a large bribe turn you aside.

¹⁹Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts

sustain you so you would not be in distress?

²⁰Do not long for the night,

to drag people away from their homes.

²¹Beware of turning to evil,

which you seem to prefer to affliction.

²²“God is exalted in his power.

Who is a teacher like him?

²³Who has prescribed his ways for him,

or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴Remember to extol his work,

which people have praised in song.

²⁵All humanity has seen it;

mortals gaze on it from afar.

²⁶How great is God—beyond our understanding!

The number of his years is past finding out.

²⁷“He draws up the drops of water,

which distill as rain to the streams;

²⁸the clouds pour down their moisture

and abundant showers fall on mankind.

²⁹Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,

how he thunders from his pavilion?

³⁰See how he scatters his lightning about him,

bathing the depths of the sea.

³¹This is the way he governs the nations

and provides food in abundance.

³²He fills his hands with lightning

and commands it to strike its mark.

³³His thunder announces the coming storm;

even the cattle make known its approach.