| 1 | Elihu proceeded and said, |
| 2 | Bear with me
and
wait a little longer, and I will show you, for I have something still to say on God’s behalf. |
| 3 | I will bring my knowledge from afar and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. |
| 4 | For truly my words shall not be false; He Who is perfect in knowledge is with you. |
| 5 | Behold! God is mighty, and yet despises no one nor regards anything as trivial; He is mighty in power of understanding
and
heart. |
| 6 | He does not prolong the life of the wicked, but gives the needy
and
afflicted their right. |
| 7 | He withdraws not His eyes from the righteous (the upright in right standing with God); but He sets them forever with kings upon the throne, and they are exalted. |
| 8 | And if they are bound in fetters [of adversity] and held by cords of affliction, |
| 9 | Then He shows to them [the true character of] their deeds and their transgressions, that they have acted arrogantly [with presumption and self-sufficiency]. |
| 10 | He also opens their ears to instruction
and
discipline, and commands that they return from iniquity. |
| 11 | If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness
and
joy. |
| 12 | But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword [of God’s destructive judgments], and they shall die in ignorance of true knowledge. |
| 13 | But the godless
and
profane in heart heap up anger [at the divine discipline]; they do not cry to Him when He binds them [with cords of affliction]. |
| 14 | They die in youth, and their life perishes among the unclean (those who are sodomites). |
| 15 | He delivers the afflicted in their affliction and opens their ears [to His voice] in adversity. |
| 16 | Indeed, God would have allured you out of the mouth of distress into a broad place where there is no situation of perplexity
or
privation; and that which would be set on your table would be full of fatness. |
| 17 | But if you [Job] are filled with the judgment of the wicked, judgment and justice will keep hold on you. |
| 18 | For let not wrath entice you into scorning chastisements; and let not the greatness of the ransom [the suffering, if rightly endured] turn you aside. |
| 19 | Will your cry be sufficient to keep you from distress, or will all the force of your strength do it? |
| 20 | Desire not the night, when peoples are cut off from their places; |
| 21 | Take heed, turn not to iniquity, for this [the iniquity of complaining against God] you have chosen rather than [submission in] affliction. |
| 22 | Behold, God exalts
and
does loftily in His power; who is a ruler
or
a teacher like Him? |
| 23 | Who has appointed God His way? Or who can say, You have done unrighteousness? |
| 24 | Remember that [by submission] you magnify God’s work, of which men have sung. |
| 25 | All men have looked upon God’s work; man may behold it afar off. |
| 26 | Behold, God is great, and we know Him not! The number of His years is unsearchable. |
| 27 | For He draws up the drops of water, which distil as rain from His vapor, |
| 28 | Which the skies pour down and drop abundantly upon [the multitudes of] mankind. |
| 29 | Not only that, but can anyone understand the spreadings of the clouds
or
the thunderings of His pavilion? |
| 30 | Behold, He spreads His lightning against the dark clouds and covers the roots of the sea. |
| 31 | For by [His clouds] God executes judgment upon the peoples; He gives food in abundance. |
| 32 | He covers His hands with the lightning and commands it to strike the mark. |
| 33 | His thunderings speak [awesomely] concerning Him; the cattle are told of His coming storm. |
Cross references:
-
Job 36:8 : Ps. 107:10, 11.
-
Job 36:13 : Rom. 2:5.
-
Job 36:26 : I Cor. 13:12.
-
Job 36:29 : Ps. 18:11; Isa. 40:22.
|