Job 35-37 (Contemporary English Version)

Job 35

Elihu Continues

Are You Really Innocent?

 ¹Elihu said:

    ²Job, are you really innocent

   in the sight of God? ^{[a] 3}Don't you honestly believe

   it pays to obey him?

    ⁴I will give the answers

   to you and your friends.

    ⁵Look up to the heavens

    ⁶and think!

   Do your sins hurt God?

    ⁷Is any good you may have done

   at all helpful to him?

    ⁸The evil or good you do

   only affects other humans.

    ⁹In times of trouble,

   everyone begs the mighty God

   to have mercy.

    ¹⁰But after their Creator

   helps them through hard times,

   they forget about him,

    ¹¹though he makes us wiser

   than animals or birds.

    ¹²God won't listen to the prayers

   of proud and evil people.

    ¹³If God All-Powerful refuses

   to answer their empty prayers,

    ¹⁴he will surely deny

   your impatient request

   to face him in court.

    ¹⁵Job, you were wrong to say

   God doesn't punish sin.

    ¹⁶Everything you have said

   adds up to nonsense.

   

Job 36

Elihu Continues

Be Patient a While Longer

 ¹Elihu said:

    ²Be patient a while longer;

   I have something else to say

   in God's defense.

    ³God always does right--

   and this knowledge

   comes straight from God. ^{[b] 4}You can rest assured

   that what I say is true.

    ⁵Although God is mighty,

   he cares about everyone

   and makes fair decisions.

    ⁶The wicked are cut down,

   and those who are wronged

   receive justice.

    ⁷God watches over good people

   and places them

   in positions

   of power and honor forever.

    ⁸But when people are prisoners

   of suffering and pain,

    ⁹God points out their sin

   and their pride,

    ¹⁰then he warns them

   to turn back to him.

    ¹¹And if they obey,

   they will be successful

   and happy from then on.

    ¹²But if they foolishly refuse,

   they will be rewarded

   with a violent death.

   

Godless People Are Too Angry

 ¹³Godless people are too angry

   to ask God for help

   when he punishes them.

    ¹⁴So they die young

   in shameful disgrace.

    ¹⁵Hard times and trouble

   are God's way

   of getting our attention!

    ¹⁶And at this very moment,

   God deeply desires

   to lead you from trouble

   and to spread your table

   with your favorite food.

    ¹⁷Now that the judgment

   for your sins

   has fallen upon you,

    ¹⁸don't let your anger

   and the pain you endured

   make you sneer at God.

    ¹⁹Your reputation and riches

   cannot protect you

   from distress,

    ²⁰nor can you find safety

   in the dark world below. ^{[c] 21}Be on guard! Don't turn to evil

   as a way of escape.

    ²²God's power is unlimited.

   He needs no teachers

    ²³to guide or correct him.

   

Others Have Praised God

 ²⁴Others have praised God

   for what he has done,

   so join with them.

    ²⁵From down here on earth,

   everyone has looked up

   and seen

    ²⁶how great God is--

   God is more than we imagine;

   no one can count the years

   he has lived.

    ²⁷God gathers moisture

   into the clouds

    ²⁸and supplies us with rain.

    ²⁹Who can understand

   how God scatters the clouds

   and speaks from his home

   in the thunderstorm?

    ³⁰And when God sends lightning,

   it can be seen

   at the bottom of the sea.

    ³¹By producing such rainstorms,

   God rules the world

   and provides us with food.

    ³²Each flash of lightning

   is one of his arrows

   striking its target,

    ³³and the thunder tells

   of his anger against sin. ^[d]

Job 37

Elihu Continues

I Am Frightened

 ¹I am frightened

   and tremble all over,

    ²when I hear the roaring voice

   of God in the thunder,

    ³and when I see his lightning

   flash across the sky.

    ⁴God's majestic voice

   thunders his commands, ^{[e] 5}creating miracles too marvelous

   for us to understand.

    ⁶Snow and heavy rainstorms

    ⁷make us stop and think

   about God's power,

    ⁸and they force animals

   to seek shelter.

    ⁹The windstorms of winter strike,

    ¹⁰and the breath of God

   freezes streams and rivers.

    ¹¹Rain clouds filled with lightning

   appear at God's command,

    ¹²traveling across the sky

    ¹³to release their cargo--

   sometimes as punishment for sin,

   sometimes as kindness.

   

Consider Carefully

 ¹⁴Job, consider carefully

   the many wonders of God.

    ¹⁵Can you explain why lightning

   flashes

   at the orders

    ¹⁶of God who knows all things?

   Or how he hangs the clouds

   in empty space?

    ¹⁷You almost melt in the heat

   of fierce desert winds

   when the sky is like brass.

    ¹⁸God can spread out the clouds

   to get relief from the heat,

   but can you?

    ¹⁹Tell us what to say to God!

   Our minds are in the dark,

   and we don't know how

   to argue our case.

    ²⁰Should I risk my life

   by telling God

   that I want to speak?

    ²¹No one can stare at the sun

   after a breeze has blown

   the clouds from the sky.

    ²²Yet the glorious splendor

   of God All-Powerful

   is brighter by far.

    ²³God cannot be seen--

   but his power is great,

   and he is always fair.

    ²⁴And so we humans fear God,

   because he shows no respect

   for those who are proud

   and think they know so much.