Job 36–37

36Elihu continued,

²“Put up with me a little longer.

I’ll show you I can speak up for God even more.

³I get my knowledge from far away.

I’ll announce that the One who made me is fair.

⁴You can be sure that my words are true.

One who has perfect knowledge is talking to you.

⁵“God is mighty, but he doesn’t hate people.

He’s mighty, and he knows exactly what he’s going to do.

⁶He doesn’t keep alive those who are evil.

Instead, he gives suffering people their rights.

⁷He watches over those who do what is right.

He puts them on thrones as if they were kings.

He honors them forever.

⁸But some people are held by chains.

They are tied up with painful ropes.

⁹God tells them what they’ve done.

He tells them they’ve become proud and sinned against him.

¹⁰He makes them listen when he corrects them.

He commands them to turn away

from the evil things they’ve done.

¹¹If they obey him and serve him,

they’ll enjoy a long and happy life.

Things will go well with them.

¹²But if they don’t listen to him,

they’ll be killed with swords.

They’ll die because they didn’t want to know anything about him.

¹³“Those whose hearts are ungodly are always angry.

Even when God puts them in chains,

they don’t cry out for help.

¹⁴They die while they are still young.

They die among the male prostitutes at the temples.

¹⁵But God saves suffering people while they are suffering.

He speaks to them while they are hurting.

¹⁶“Job, he wants to take you out of the jaws of trouble.

He wants to bring you to a wide and safe place.

He’d like to seat you at a table that is loaded with the best food.

¹⁷But now you are loaded down

with the punishment sinners will receive.

You have been judged fairly.

¹⁸Be careful that no one tempts you with riches.

Don’t take money from people who want special favors,

no matter how much it is.

¹⁹Can your wealth keep you out of trouble?

Can all of your mighty efforts keep you going?

²⁰Don’t long for the night to come

so you can drag people away from their homes.

²¹Be careful not to do what is evil.

You seem to like evil better than suffering!

²²“God is honored because he is so powerful.

He has no equal as a teacher.

²³Who has told him what he can do?

Who has said to him, ‘You have done what is wrong’?

²⁴Remember to thank him for what he’s done.

People have praised him with their songs.

²⁵Every human being has seen his work.

People can see it from far away.

²⁶How great God is! We’ll never completely understand him.

We’ll never find out how long he has lived.

²⁷“He makes mist rise from the water.

Then it falls as rain into the streams.

²⁸The clouds pour down their moisture.

Rain showers fall on people everywhere.

²⁹Who can understand how God spreads out the clouds?

Who can explain how he thunders from his home in heaven?

³⁰See how he scatters his lightning around him!

He lights up the deepest parts of the ocean.

³¹The rain he sends makes things grow for the nations.

He provides them with plenty of food.

³²He holds lightning bolts in his hands.

He commands them to strike their marks.

³³His thunder announces that a storm is coming.

Even the cattle let us know it’s approaching.

37“When I hear the thunder, my heart pounds.

It beats faster inside me.

²Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice!

Listen to the thunder that comes from him!

³He sends his lightning across the sky.

It reaches from one end of the earth to the other.

⁴Next comes the sound of his roaring thunder.

He thunders with his majestic voice.

When his voice fills the air,

he doesn’t hold anything back.

⁵God’s voice thunders in wonderful ways.

We’ll never understand the great things he does.

⁶He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth.’

He tells the rain, ‘Pour down your mighty waters.’

⁷He stops everyone from working.

He wants them to see his work.

⁸The animals go inside.

They remain in their dens.

⁹The storm comes out of its storeroom in the heavens.

The cold comes from the driving winds.

¹⁰The breath of God produces ice.

The shallow water freezes over.

¹¹He loads the clouds with moisture.

He scatters his lightning through them.

¹²He directs the clouds to circle

above the surface of the whole earth.

They do everything he commands them to do.

¹³He tells the clouds to punish people.

Or he brings them to water his earth and show his love.

¹⁴“Job, listen to me.

Stop and think about the wonderful things God does.

¹⁵Do you know how he controls the clouds?

Do you understand how he makes his lightning flash?

¹⁶Do you know how the clouds stay up in the sky?

Do you understand the wonders of the One who has perfect knowledge?

¹⁷Even your clothes are too hot for you

when the land lies quiet under the south wind.

¹⁸Can you help God spread out the skies?

They are as hard as a mirror

that’s made out of bronze.

¹⁹“Job, tell us what we should say to God.

We can’t prepare our case

because our minds are dark.

²⁰Should he be told that I want to speak?

Would any man ask to be destroyed by him?

²¹No one can look at the sun.

It’s too bright after the wind has swept the skies clean.

²²Out of the north, God comes in his shining glory.

He comes in all of his wonderful majesty.

²³We can’t reach up to the Mighty One.

He is lifted high because of his power.

Everything he does is fair and right.

So he doesn’t crush people.

²⁴That’s why they have respect for him.

He cares about all those who are wise.”