Job 36–37

Elihu Extols God’s Greatness

36And Elihu continued, and said:

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

for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.

³I will get my knowledge from ^oafar

and ascribe ^prighteousness to my ^qMaker.

⁴For truly my words are not false;

one who is ^rperfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵“Behold, God is mighty, and ^sdoes not despise any;

he is ^tmighty in strength of understanding.

⁶He does not keep the wicked alive,

but gives ^uthe afflicted their right.

⁷He does not withdraw his ^veyes from the righteous,

but with ^wkings on the throne

he sets them forever, and they are ^xexalted.

⁸And if they are ^ybound in chains

and caught in the cords of affliction,

⁹then he declares to them their work

and their transgressions, that they are ^zbehaving arrogantly.

¹⁰He ^aopens their ears to instruction

and commands that they ^breturn from iniquity.

^11cIf they listen and serve him,

they ^dcomplete their days in prosperity,

and their years in pleasantness.

¹²But if they do not listen, they ^eperish by the sword

and die ^fwithout knowledge.

¹³“The ^ggodless in heart cherish anger;

they do not cry for help when he ^hbinds them.

¹⁴They ⁱdie in youth,

and their life ends among the cult prostitutes.

¹⁵He delivers ^jthe afflicted by their affliction

and ^kopens their ear by adversity.

¹⁶He also allured you out of distress

into ^la broad place where there was no cramping,

and what was set on your ^mtable was full of ⁿfatness.

¹⁷“But you are full of the judgment on the wicked;

judgment and justice seize you.

¹⁸Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing,

and let not the greatness of ^othe ransom turn you aside.

¹⁹Will your ^pcry for help avail to keep you from distress,

or all the force of your strength?

²⁰Do not long for ^qthe night,

when peoples vanish ^rin their place.

²¹Take care; ^sdo not turn to iniquity,

for this you have chosen rather than affliction.

²²Behold, God is exalted in his power;

who is ^ta teacher like him?

²³Who has ^uprescribed for him his way,

or who can say, ^v‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴“Remember to ^wextol his work,

of which men have ^xsung.

²⁵All mankind has looked on it;

man beholds it from afar.

²⁶Behold, God is great, and we ^yknow him not;

the number of his ^zyears is unsearchable.

²⁷For he draws up the drops of water;

they distill his ^amist in ^brain,

²⁸which ^cthe skies pour down

and drop on mankind abundantly.

²⁹Can anyone understand ^dthe spreading of the clouds,

the thunderings of his ^epavilion?

³⁰Behold, he scatters his lightning about him

and covers the roots of the sea.

³¹For by these he ^fjudges peoples;

he gives ^gfood in abundance.

³²He covers his ^hhands with the lightning

and commands it to strike the mark.

³³Its crashing declares his presence;¹

the cattle also declare that he rises.

Elihu Proclaims God’s Majesty

37“At this also my heart trembles

and leaps out of its place.

²Keep listening to the thunder of his voice

and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

³Under the whole heaven he lets it go,

and his ⁱlightning to the ^jcorners of the earth.

⁴After it ^khis voice roars;

^lhe thunders with his majestic voice,

and he does not restrain the lightnings¹ when his voice is heard.

⁵God thunders wondrously with his voice;

he does ^mgreat things that we cannot ⁿcomprehend.

⁶For to ^othe snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’

likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.

⁷He ^pseals up the hand of every man,

that all men whom he made may ^qknow it.

⁸Then the beasts go into their ^rlairs,

and remain in their ^sdens.

⁹From ^tits chamber ^ucomes the whirlwind,

and ^vcold from the scattering winds.

¹⁰By the breath of God ^wice is given,

and ^xthe broad waters are frozen fast.

¹¹He loads the thick cloud with moisture;

the clouds scatter his lightning.

¹²They ^yturn around and around by his ^zguidance,

^zto accomplish all that he commands them

on the face of ^athe habitable world.

¹³Whether for ^bcorrection or for his ^cland

or for ^dlove, he causes it to happen.

¹⁴“Hear this, O Job;

stop and ^econsider the wondrous works of God.

¹⁵Do you know how God lays his command upon them

and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?

¹⁶Do you know the balancings² of the clouds,

the wondrous works of him who is ^fperfect in knowledge,

¹⁷you whose garments are hot

when the earth is still because of the south wind?

¹⁸Can you, like him, ^gspread out the skies,

hard as a cast metal ^hmirror?

¹⁹Teach us what we shall say to him;

we cannot draw up our case because of ⁱdarkness.

²⁰Shall it be told him that I would speak?

Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?

²¹“And now no one looks on the light

when it is bright in the skies,

when the wind has passed and cleared them.

²²Out of the north comes golden splendor;

God is clothed with ^jawesome majesty.

²³The Almighty—we ^kcannot find him;

he is ^lgreat in power;

^mjustice and abundant righteousness he will not ⁿviolate.

²⁴Therefore men ^ofear him;

he does not regard any who are ^pwise in their own conceit.”³