Job 36–37

CHAPTER 36

Elihu Says God Gives the Afflicted Justice

¹Then Elihu continued and said,

²“Wait for me a little, and I will show you

That there ¹is yet more to be said in God’s behalf.

³“I will take up my knowledge from afar,

And I will ascribe ^arighteousness to my Maker.

⁴“For truly ^amy words are not a lie;

One who is ^1bperfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵“Behold, God is mighty but does not ^areject;

He is ^bmighty in the power of His heart.

⁶“He does not ^akeep the wicked alive,

But gives justice to ^bthe afflicted.

⁷“He does not ^awithdraw His eyes from the righteous;

But ^bwith kings on the throne

He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.

⁸“And if they are bound in fetters,

And are caught in the cords of ^aaffliction,

⁹Then He declares to them their work

And their transgressions, that they have ^amagnified themselves.

¹⁰“^aHe opens their ear to discipline,

And ^bsays that they return from wickedness.

¹¹“If they hear and serve Him,

They will ^aend their days in prosperity

And their years in ^bpleasures.

¹²“But if they do not hear, they shall pass away ^aby a weapon

And they will ^bbreathe their last without knowledge.

¹³“But the godless in heart lay up anger;

They do not cry for help when He binds them.

¹⁴“¹They die in youth,

And their life perishes among the ^acult prostitutes.

¹⁵“He delivers the afflicted in ¹their ^aaffliction,

And ^bopens their ear in ²time of oppression.

¹⁶“Then indeed, He ^aenticed you from the mouth of distress,

Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;

And the comfort of your table full of ¹fatness.

¹⁷“But you were full of ^ajudgment on the wicked;

Judgment and justice take hold of you.

¹⁸“Beware lest ^awrath entice you to scoffing;

And do not let the greatness of the ^batonement turn you aside.

¹⁹“Will your ¹cries keep you from distress,

Or all the forces of your power?

²⁰“Do not long for ^athe night,

When people ¹vanish in their place.

²¹“Be careful, do ^anot turn to wickedness,

For you have chosen this to ^baffliction.

²²“Behold, God is exalted in His power;

Who is a ^ateacher like Him?

²³“Who has appointed Him His way,

And who has said, ‘^aYou have worked out ¹unrighteousness’?

²⁴“Remember that you should ^aexalt His work,

Of which men have ^bsung.

²⁵“All men have beheld it;

Man looks from afar.

²⁶“Behold, God is ^aexalted, and ^bwe do not know Him;

The ^cnumber of His years is unsearchable.

²⁷“For ^aHe draws up the drops of water,

They distill rain for His ¹stream,

²⁸Which the clouds pour down,

They drip upon man abundantly.

²⁹“Can anyone discern the ^aspreading of the clouds,

The ^bthundering of His ¹pavilion?

³⁰“Behold, He spreads His ¹lightning about Him,

And He covers the depths of the sea.

³¹“For by these He ^ajudges peoples;

He ^bgives food in abundance.

³²“He covers His hands with the ¹lightning,

And ^acommands it to strike the mark.

³³“Its ^athundering declares about Him;

The cattle also, concerning what is coming up.

CHAPTER 37

Elihu Speaks of God’s Voice

¹“At this also my heart trembles,

And leaps from its place.

²“¹Listen closely to the ^athunder of His voice,

And the rumbling that goes out from His mouth.

³“Under the whole heaven He lets it loose,

And His ¹lightning to the ^aends of the earth.

⁴“After it, a voice roars;

He thunders with His majestic voice,

And He does not restrain ¹the lightnings when His voice is heard.

⁵“God ^athunders with His voice marvelously,

Doing ^bgreat things which we do not know.

⁶“For to ^athe snow He says, ‘Fall on the earth,’

And to the ^bdownpour of rain and the downpour of rains, ‘Be strong.’

⁷“He ^aseals the hand of every man,

That ^ball men may know His work.

⁸“Then the beast goes into its ^alair

And dwells in its ¹den.

⁹“Out of the ^1asouth comes the storm,

And out of the ²north the cold.

¹⁰“From the breath of God ^aice is made,

And the expanse of the waters is frozen.

¹¹“Also with moisture He ^aloads the thick cloud;

He ^bscatters ^cthe cloud of His ¹lightning.

¹²“It changes direction, turning around by His guidance,

That ¹it may do whatever He ^acommands ²it

On the ^bface of the inhabited earth.

¹³“Whether for ^1acorrection, or for ^bHis world,

Or for ^clovingkindness, He causes it to ²happen.

¹⁴“Give ear to this, O Job,

Stand and carefully consider the wondrous deeds of God.

¹⁵“Do you know how God establishes them,

And makes the ¹lightning of His cloud to shine?

¹⁶“Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds,

The ^awonders of one ^1bperfect in knowledge,

¹⁷You whose garments are hot,

When the land is quiet because of the south wind?

¹⁸“Can you, with Him, ^aspread out the skies,

Strong as a molten mirror?

¹⁹“Make us know what we shall say to Him;

We ^acannot arrange our case because of darkness.

²⁰“Shall it be recounted to Him that I would speak?

¹If a man says a word, will He indeed be swallowed up?

²¹“So now ¹men do not see the light which is bright in the skies;

But the wind has passed and cleared them.

²²“Out of the north comes golden splendor;

Around God is fearsome majesty.

²³“The Almighty—^awe cannot find Him;

He is ^bexalted in power

And ^cHe will not afflict ^djustice and abundant righteousness.

²⁴“Therefore men ^afear Him;

He does not ^bregard any who are wise of heart.”