Chapter 36

Elihu continued speaking:

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

For I have not finished defending God!

3 I will present profound arguments

for the righteousness of my Creator.

4 I 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.

6 He does not let the wicked live

but gives justice to the afflicted.

7 He never takes his eyes off the innocent,

but he sets them on thrones with kings

and exalts them forever.

8 If they are bound in chains

and caught up in a web of trouble,

9 he shows them the reason.

He shows them their sins of pride.

10 He 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.

12 But if they refuse to listen to him,

they will cross over the river of death,

dying from lack of understanding.

13 For the godless are full of resentment.

Even when he punishes them,

they refuse to cry out to him for help.

14 They die when they are young,

after wasting their lives in immoral living.

15 But 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.

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

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

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

Don’t let yourself be bribed into sin.

19 Could all your wealth*

or all your mighty efforts

keep you from distress?

20 Do not long for the cover of night,

for that is when people will be destroyed.*

21 Be 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?

23 No one can tell him what to do,

or say to him, ‘You have done wrong.’

24 Instead, glorify his mighty works,

singing songs of praise.

25 Everyone has seen these things,

though only from a distance.

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

His years cannot be counted.

27 He draws up the water vapor

and then distills it into rain.

28 The rain pours down from the clouds,

and everyone benefits.

29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds

and the thunder that rolls forth from heaven?

30 See how he spreads the lightning around him

and how it lights up the depths of the sea.

31 By these mighty acts he nourishes* the people,

giving them food in abundance.

32 He fills his hands with lightning bolts

and hurls each at its target.

33 The thunder announces his presence;

the storm announces his indignant anger.*