Job 36
Holman Christian Standard Bible
36 Then Elihu continued, saying:
2 Be patient with me a little longer, and I will inform you,
for there is still more to be said on God’s behalf.
3 I will get my knowledge from a distant place
and ascribe justice to my Maker.
4 For my arguments are without flaw;[a]
one who has perfect knowledge is with you.
5 Yes, God is mighty, but He despises no one;
He understands all things.[b](A)
6 He does not keep the wicked alive,(B)
but He gives justice to the afflicted.
7 He does not remove His gaze from the righteous,
but He seats them forever with enthroned kings,
and they are exalted.
8 If people are bound with chains
and trapped by the cords of affliction,
9 God tells them what they have done
and how arrogantly they have transgressed.
10 He opens their ears(C) to correction
and insists they repent from iniquity.
11 If they serve Him obediently,
they will end their days in prosperity
and their years in happiness.(D)
12 But if they do not obey,
they will cross the river of death[c]
and die without knowledge.(E)
13 Those who have a godless heart harbor anger;
even when God binds them, they do not cry for help.
14 They die in their youth;
their life ends among male cult prostitutes.(F)
15 God rescues the afflicted by their affliction;
He instructs them by their torment.
16 Indeed, He lured you from the jaws[d] of distress
to a spacious and unconfined place.
Your table was spread with choice food.
17 Yet now you are obsessed with the judgment due the wicked;
judgment and justice have seized you.
18 Be careful that no one lures you with riches;[e]
do not let a large ransom[f] lead you astray.(G)
19 Can your wealth[g] or all your physical exertion
keep you from distress?(H)
20 Do not long for the night
when nations will disappear from their places.
21 Be careful that you do not turn to iniquity,
for that is why you have been tested by[h] affliction.
22 Look, God shows Himself exalted by His power.
Who is a teacher like Him?
23 Who has appointed His way for Him,
and who has declared, “You have done wrong”?(I)
24 Remember that you should praise His work,
which people have sung about.(J)
25 All mankind has seen it;
people have looked at it from a distance.(K)
26 Yes, God is exalted beyond our knowledge;(L)
the number of His years cannot be counted.(M)
27 For He makes waterdrops evaporate;[i]
they distill the rain into its[j] mist,(N)
28 which the clouds pour out
and shower abundantly on mankind.
29 Can anyone understand how the clouds spread out
or how the thunder roars from God’s pavilion?(O)
30 See how He spreads His lightning(P) around Him
and covers the depths of the sea.
31 For He judges the nations with these;
He gives food in abundance.(Q)
32 He covers His hands with lightning
and commands it to hit its mark.
33 The[k] thunder declares His presence;[l]
the cattle also, the approaching storm.
Footnotes
- Job 36:4 Lit my words are not false
- Job 36:5 Lit He is mighty in strength of heart
- Job 36:12 Or will perish by the sword
- Job 36:16 Lit from a mouth of narrowness
- Job 36:18 Or you into mockery
- Job 36:18 Or bribe
- Job 36:19 Or cry for help
- Job 36:21 Or for you have preferred this to
- Job 36:27 Lit He draws in waterdrops
- Job 36:27 Or His
- Job 36:33 Lit His, or Its
- Job 36:33 Lit thunder announces concerning Him or it
Job 36
Jubilee Bible 2000
36 ¶ And Elihu added and said,
2 Wait for me a little, and I will teach thee; for I yet speak on God’s behalf.
3 I will take my knowledge from afar and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
4 For truly my words are not lies; for I share perfect knowledge with thee.
5 ¶ Behold, God is mighty and does not despise; he is mighty in virtue of heart.
6 He shall not give life to the wicked; but to the poor he shall give their right.
7 He shall not withdraw his eyes from the righteous; but with kings he shall place them on the throne for ever, and they shall be exalted.
8 And if they were bound in fetters and captive in cords of affliction,
9 then he shall show them their work and that their rebellions prevailed.
10 He opens their ear to instruction and commands that they turn from iniquity.
11 If they hearken and serve him, they shall spend their days in goodness and their years in delight.
12 But if they do not hearken, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.
13 But the hypocrites in heart shall irritate him more; they shall not cry out when he binds them.
14 Their soul shall die in youth, and their life is among the male pagan cult prostitutes.
15 ¶ He shall deliver the poor from his poverty, and in affliction shall open their ears.
16 Likewise, he would have removed thee out of the mouth of anguish into a broad place where there is no distress and should have set thy table full of fatness.
17 But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked, against the judgment and the justice that sustain everything.
18 Therefore it is to be feared that he take thee away with a stroke, which cannot be avoided even with a great ransom.
19 Will he esteem thy riches? No, not gold, nor all the forces of strength.
20 Do not desire the night, when he cuts people off in their place.
21 Take heed, do not regard iniquity, to choose it rather than poverty.
22 Behold, God is exalted by his power; what teacher is like him?
23 Who has prescribed his way unto him? Or who shall say unto him, Thou hast wrought iniquity?
24 ¶ Remember to magnify his work, which men behold.
25 Every man may see it; man may behold it afar off.
26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.
27 For he detains the drops of water; when the rain pours down rain out of its vapour,
28 which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly.
29 Shall you understand the spreadings of the clouds or the noise of his tent?
30 Behold, he spreads his light upon it and covers the roots of the sea.
31 For by them he judges the peoples; he gives food to the multitude.
32 With the clouds he covers the light and commands them to come against the light.
33 The one gives news of the other; the one acquires wrath against the one that comes.
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