Job 36–37

Chapter 36

Elihu continued speaking:

²“Let me go on, and I will show you the truth.

For I have not finished defending God!

³I will present profound arguments

for the righteousness of my Creator.

⁴I am telling you nothing but the truth,

for I am a man of great knowledge.

⁵“God is mighty, but he does not despise anyone!

He is mighty in both power and understanding.

⁶He does not let the wicked live

but gives justice to the afflicted.

⁷He never takes his eyes off the innocent,

but he sets them on thrones with kings

and exalts them forever.

⁸If they are bound in chains

and caught up in a web of trouble,

⁹he shows them the reason.

He shows them their sins of pride.

¹⁰He gets their attention

and commands that they turn from evil.

¹¹“If they listen and obey God,

they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives.

All their years will be pleasant.

¹²But if they refuse to listen to him,

they will cross over the river of death,

dying from lack of understanding.

¹³For the godless are full of resentment.

Even when he punishes them,

they refuse to cry out to him for help.

¹⁴They die when they are young,

after wasting their lives in immoral living.

¹⁵But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer.

For he gets their attention through adversity.

¹⁶“God is leading you away from danger, Job,

to a place free from distress.

He is setting your table with the best food.

¹⁷But you are obsessed with whether the godless will be judged.

Don’t worry, judgment and justice will be upheld.

¹⁸But watch out, or you may be seduced by wealth.

Don’t let yourself be bribed into sin.

¹⁹Could all your wealth

or all your mighty efforts

keep you from distress?

²⁰Do not long for the cover of night,

for that is when people will be destroyed.

²¹Be on guard! Turn back from evil,

for God sent this suffering

to keep you from a life of evil.

Elihu Reminds Job of God’s Power

²²“Look, God is all-powerful.

Who is a teacher like him?

²³No one can tell him what to do,

or say to him, ‘You have done wrong.’

²⁴Instead, glorify his mighty works,

singing songs of praise.

²⁵Everyone has seen these things,

though only from a distance.

²⁶“Look, God is greater than we can understand.

His years cannot be counted.

²⁷He draws up the water vapor

and then distills it into rain.

²⁸The rain pours down from the clouds,

and everyone benefits.

²⁹Who can understand the spreading of the clouds

and the thunder that rolls forth from heaven?

³⁰See how he spreads the lightning around him

and how it lights up the depths of the sea.

³¹By these mighty acts he nourishes the people,

giving them food in abundance.

³²He fills his hands with lightning bolts

and hurls each at its target.

³³The thunder announces his presence;

the storm announces his indignant anger.

Chapter 37

¹“My heart pounds as I think of this.

It trembles within me.

²Listen carefully to the thunder of God’s voice

as it rolls from his mouth.

³It rolls across the heavens,

and his lightning flashes in every direction.

⁴Then comes the roaring of the thunder—

the tremendous voice of his majesty.

He does not restrain it when he speaks.

⁵God’s voice is glorious in the thunder.

We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power.

⁶“He directs the snow to fall on the earth

and tells the rain to pour down.

⁷Then everyone stops working

so they can watch his power.

⁸The wild animals take cover

and stay inside their dens.

⁹The stormy wind comes from its chamber,

and the driving winds bring the cold.

¹⁰God’s breath sends the ice,

freezing wide expanses of water.

¹¹He loads the clouds with moisture,

and they flash with his lightning.

¹²The clouds churn about at his direction.

They do whatever he commands throughout the earth.

¹³He makes these things happen either to punish people

or to show his unfailing love.

¹⁴“Pay attention to this, Job.

Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!

¹⁵Do you know how God controls the storm

and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds?

¹⁶Do you understand how he moves the clouds

with wonderful perfection and skill?

¹⁷When you are sweltering in your clothes

and the south wind dies down and everything is still,

¹⁸he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror.

Can you do that?

¹⁹“So teach the rest of us what to say to God.

We are too ignorant to make our own arguments.

²⁰Should God be notified that I want to speak?

Can people even speak when they are confused?

²¹We cannot look at the sun,

for it shines brightly in the sky

when the wind clears away the clouds.

²²So also, golden splendor comes from the mountain of God.

He is clothed in dazzling splendor.

²³We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty;

but even though he is just and righteous,

he does not destroy us.

²⁴No wonder people everywhere fear him.

All who are wise show him reverence.”