Job 36

¹ Elihu continued:

² “Bear with me a little longer and I will show you
that there is more to be said in God’s behalf.
³ I get my knowledge from afar;
I will ascribe justice to my Maker.
⁴ Be 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.
⁶ He does not keep the wicked alive
but gives the afflicted their rights.
⁷ He does not take his eyes off the righteous;
he enthrones them with kings
and exalts them forever.
⁸ But if people are bound in chains,
held fast by cords of affliction,
⁹ he tells them what they have done—
that they have sinned arrogantly.
¹⁰ He makes them listen to correction
and commands them to repent of their evil.
¹¹ If they obey and serve him,
they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity
and their years in contentment.
¹² But 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.
¹⁴ They die in their youth,
among male prostitutes of the shrines.
¹⁵ But 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.
¹⁷ But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked;
judgment and justice have taken hold of you.
¹⁸ Be careful that no one entices you by riches;
do not let a large bribe turn you aside.
¹⁹ Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts
sustain you so you would not be in distress?
²⁰ Do not long for the night,
to drag people away from their homes.
²¹ Beware of turning to evil,
which you seem to prefer to affliction.

²² “God is exalted in his power.
Who is a teacher like him?
²³ Who has prescribed his ways for him,
or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?
²⁴ Remember to extol his work,
which people have praised in song.
²⁵ All humanity has seen it;
mortals gaze on it from afar.
²⁶ How 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;
²⁸ the clouds pour down their moisture
and abundant showers fall on mankind.
²⁹ Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
how he thunders from his pavilion?
³⁰ See how he scatters his lightning about him,
bathing the depths of the sea.
³¹ This is the way he governs the nations
and provides food in abundance.
³² He fills his hands with lightning
and commands it to strike its mark.
³³ His thunder announces the coming storm;
even the cattle make known its approach.