Job 36
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
36 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,(A)
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].(B)
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.(C)
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?(D)
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.
Job 36
The Voice
36 Elihu continued.
2 Elihu: Wait for me to finish, and I will explain.
There is still more to be said on God’s behalf.
3 I will acquire my knowledge from ancient, far away sources
and illustrate the righteous ways of my Maker.
4 Truly, there is no untruth hidden in my words;
in fact, perfect knowledge has graced your presence.
5 Look! God has great strength, but He does not detest human beings;
He is mighty indeed, and His heart swells with understanding.
6 He does not preserve the life of the wicked,
but He grants justice to those who are weak and humble.
7 He does not divert His gaze from the righteous;
He enthrones them with monarchs,
lifts them up to positions of power forever.
8 And if the people are restrained in chains,
caught in the cords of their misery,
9 Then He explains to them their exploits,
their errors, and how they have lived in arrogance.
10 He uncovers their ears so as to hear His teaching
and commands them to abandon their sinful path.
11 If they hear and choose to serve Him,
then they end their days in prosperity and their years in felicity.
12 But if they refuse to listen,
then they will pass over to the land of death by the sword
and will arrive, lacking any wisdom, at their death.
13 The sullied and impure stash away their anger.
Even when He puts them in chains for their own good,
they refuse to cry for His help.
14 They die young,
debased among the male prostitutes of the shrines.
15 As for the righteous—when they are afflicted—
God delivers them through the affliction itself,
and uses the trial to open their ears to His voice.
16 Job, even now, God is enticing you away from the jaws of distress;
He is luring you to a wide, wonderful place free of boundaries
where your table will be covered in the finest foods.
17 You are weighed down, instead, with judgment usually reserved for the wicked.
And yet, ironically, as you seek to lay hold of justice and judgment,
justice and judgment have laid hold of you.
18 Beware that your anger at how you are being judged does not seduce you into scorning.
Do not let the high ransom you are paying through your suffering steer you off God’s path.
19 Will your cry for help lessen your misery?
How about your strength and forcefulness?
Are they yielding you any better result?
20 Do not pine, Job, for the night
when people pass from their earthly homes into oblivion.[a]
21 In short, be careful! Do not turn your life toward evil ways—
which you have preferred to hearing God’s correcting voice in the midst of your suffering.
22 See, God is supreme in His power.
Is there any teacher like Him?
23 Is anyone capable of overseeing His path?
Who has ever said to Him, “You have done wrong”?
24 Remember to praise His works,
which generations have celebrated in song.
25 All of humankind has seen them
and has gazed upon them from far away.
26 Look, God is exalted, beyond all knowing.
The number of His years is vast, beyond all discovery.
27 For He draws up drops of water,
distills the rain from the mist
28 Which pours down from the clouds,
dripping a sky full of water over the whole of humanity.
29 It is beyond comprehension: the fanning out of the clouds,
the crashing thunder from His cloudy pavilion.
30 Ah, and then He extends His lightning over the earth,
striking even the sea to illumine its depths.
31 For with these, He judges the peoples—
lightning punishing His enemies and rain blessing His people—
but now with those same waters, He gives them food in abundance.
32 In the palms of His hands He holds lightning
and issues orders for it to strike its target.
33 Thunder announces His presence;
His jealous anger[b] is against what is coming.
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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.