36 Elihu kept talking and said:
2 Be patient with me a little longer.
I intend to inform you further,
since I have more to say on God’s behalf.
3 I will provide you with comprehensive knowledge,
and I will justify my Maker.
4 You can be sure that none of my words are false.
A man with complete knowledge is here with you.
5 Yes, God is mighty, but he does not despise people.
He is mighty and has great understanding.[a]
6 He does not keep a wicked man alive,
but he does give justice to the oppressed.
7 He does not turn his eyes away from the righteous.
He seats them on thrones with kings
and exalts them forever.
8 But if people are bound in chains,
and they are held captive by cords of affliction,
9 he declares to them what they have done—
how arrogantly they have committed rebellious deeds.
10 He opens their ears to accept discipline,[b]
and he tells them to turn back from wickedness.
11 If they listen and serve him,
they will complete their days in prosperity,
and their years will end in pleasure.
12 But if they do not listen,
they will be overwhelmed by a stream.[c]
They will breathe their last without knowledge.
13 Godless hearts nourish anger.
They do not cry out for help even when he imprisons them.
14 Their souls die while they are still young,
and they end their lives among the male prostitutes at their shrines.
15 God delivers the afflicted by means of their affliction,
and he gets their attention through their suffering.
16 Certainly he is drawing you out of the jaws of distress
to a wide-open place, where you will not be hemmed in.
You will be comfortable at your table covered with rich food.
17 But now you are caught up with the judgment of the wicked,
and judgment and justice have taken hold of you.
18 Watch out, so that no one lures you with luxury.
Do not let a large payment turn you aside.
19 Can your affluence arrange for your security,
so that you do not suffer want?
Can even your strongest efforts accomplish that?
20 Do not long for night time, when nations vanish from their place.[d]
21 Watch out. Do not turn to evil,
because that is why you have been tested by affliction.[e]
22 Listen to me. God is exalted in his power.
Who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has dictated his way for him?
Who has said, “You have done wrong”?
24 Remember that you should praise his work,
which people have celebrated in song.
25 All mankind has observed it.
People can look at it from a distance.
26 Yes, God is exalted far beyond our comprehension.
The number of his years is beyond investigation.
27 He draws up drops of water from the sea,
and he distills the raindrops to form mist,
28 which flow down from the clouds
and pour down abundantly on mankind.
29 Indeed, who understands how the clouds spread out?
Who understands how the thunder rumbles out from his shelter?
30 Look how he spreads his light[f] all around him,
and he covers the bottom[g] of the sea.
31 He uses this to bring judgment on peoples
and to provide abundant food.
32 With his hands he grasps the lightning,
and he gives it orders as it advances.
33 Through the thunder he sounds his war cry.
The herds sense the coming of the rising storm.[h]
Footnotes
- Job 36:5 Or resolve
- Job 36:10 Or correction
- Job 36:12 Or weapon
- Job 36:20 The meaning of this verse is uncertain.
- Job 36:21 Or though you seem to prefer it to affliction. The meaning of this verse is uncertain.
- Job 36:30 Or lightning. In Job the same word is used for both light and lightning.
- Job 36:30 Literally the roots
- Job 36:33 The meaning of this line is uncertain.