Job Chapter 36
1 Elihu continued:
2 “Bear with me a little longer, and I’ll show you
what I have to say on God’s behalf.
3 I’ll bring my knowledge from afar
and credit goodness to my Maker.
4 What I’m saying is true;
I know perfectly well what I’m talking about.
5 God is powerful, but he doesn’t despise anybody;
he’s mighty in his power to understand.
6 He doesn’t keep sinners alive,
but gives justice to the oppressed.
7 He doesn’t take his eyes off of good people,
but enthrones them with kings
and exalts them permanently.
8 If they’re bound in chains
and held tight in a web of difficulties,
9 he tells them the reason:
it’s because they’ve acted arrogantly.
10 He opens their ears to instruction
and commands them to turn away from sin.
Job 36:1-10
11 If they listen and serve him,
they’ll end their days in prosperity,
their years in pleasantness.
12 But if they ignore him,
they’ll perish by the sword and die ignorant.
13 But the godless in heart store up anger;
they don’t call out for help when he restrains them.
14 They die young;
their life perishes among the cult prostitutes.
15 He delivers the afflicted by their afflictions
and opens their ears with adversity.
Job 36:11-15
16 So he’s luring you with distress
into a safe space that’s not crowded
and has set delicious food on your table.
17 “But you’ve become obsessed with condemning sinners,
obsessed with judgment and justice.
18 Be careful that anger doesn’t lure you into scoffing;
don’t let the great cost of the ransom turn you aside.
19 Will your wealth or strength
keep you away from troubles?
20 Don’t long for the cover of night
when people disappear unnoticed.
21 Make sure not to turn to evil,
which you’ve preferred to affliction.
22 God is honored by his power;
who can teach like him?
23 Who has prescribed his conduct
or said, ‘You’ve done something wrong’?
Job 36:16-23
24 “Remember to extol his work
that people sing about.
25 Everybody has seen it;
they can look at it from a long way off.
26 God is so great we don’t understand him;
we can’t find out how old he is.
27 He evaporates water drops
and distills his mist into rain,
28 which the clouds
pour down on people abundantly.
Job 36:24-28
29 Can anyone understand how clouds spread out
or how thunder claps in his pavilion?
30 He spreads out lightning all around him
and covers the depths of the ocean.
31 They’re how he governs nations
and supplies food abundantly.
32 He fills his hands with lightning bolts
and hurls them at their marks.
33 Thunder announces his presence
and warns livestock that a storm is coming.
Job 36:29-33