Job 36:2–25

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.