Job 36

Chapter 36

Elihu Speaks of God’s Dealings with Men

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 fetch my knowledge from afar,

And I will ascribe ^arighteousness to my Maker.

⁴“For truly ^amy words are not false;

One who is ^bperfect in knowledge is with you.

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

He is ^bmighty in strength of understanding.

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 instruction,

And ^bcommands that they return from evil.

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 ¹perish ^aby the sword

And they will ^bdie 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 ²in time of oppression.

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

Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;

And that which was set on your table was full of ¹fatness.

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

Judgment and justice take hold of you.

¹⁸“Beware that ^awrath does not entice you to scoffing;

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

¹⁹“Will your ¹riches keep you from distress,

Or all the forces of your strength?

²⁰“Do not long for ^athe night,

When people ¹vanish in their place.

²¹“Be careful, do ^anot turn to evil,

For you have preferred 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 done wrong’?

²⁴“Remember that you should ^aexalt His work,

Of which men have ^bsung.

²⁵“All men have seen it;

Man beholds 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 from ¹the ²mist,

²⁸Which the clouds pour down,

They drip upon man abundantly.

²⁹“Can anyone understand 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 ^anoise declares ¹His presence;

The cattle also, concerning what is coming up.