Chapter 36

Elihu Speaks of God’s Dealings with Men

1 Then 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,

9 Then 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,

28 Which 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.