Job 36

1 Elihu also continued, and said,

Elihu [finished by] saying this:

2 “Bear with me a little, and I will show you; for I still have something to say on God’s behalf.

“[Job, ] be patient with me a little longer, because I have something else to teach you. I have something else to say that God [wants you to know].

3 I will get my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

I will tell you what I have learned from many sources, in order to show that God, my creator, is just/fair.

4 For truly my words are not false. One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

I am not saying anything to you that is false; I, who am standing in front of you, am someone who understands things (very well/perfectly) [HYP].

5 “Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise anyone. He is mighty in strength of understanding.

“Hey, God is [very] powerful, and he does not despise anyone, and he understands everything.

6 He does not preserve the life of the wicked, but gives justice to the afflicted.

He does not allow wicked people to remain alive, and he always acts justly toward those who are poor.

7 He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne, he sets them forever, and they are exalted.

He always watches over [MTY] those who are righteous; he allows them to sit on thrones [and rule] with kings, and they are honored forever.

8 If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions,

But if people [who commit crimes] are caught, they [are thrown into prison and] are caused to suffer by being fastened with chains.

9 then he shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly.

When that happens, God shows them what they have done; he shows them the sins that they have committed, and he shows them that they have been proud/arrogant.

10 He also opens their ears to instruction, and commands that they return from iniquity.

He causes them to listen [MTY] to what he is warning them, and he commands them to turn away from [doing what is] evil.

11 If they listen and serve him, they will spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

If they (listen to/heed) him and serve him, [after they get out of prison] they will prosper for all the years that they are alive and be peaceful/happy.

12 But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword; they will die without knowledge.

But if they do not (listen/pay attention) to him, they will die violently, not knowing [why God is causing them to die].

13 “But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They do not cry for help when he binds them.

“Godless/Wicked people continue being angry, and they do not cry out for help, [even] when God is punishing them.

14 They die in youth. Their life perishes among the unclean.

They die while they are still young, disgraced because of their very immoral behavior [EUP].

15 He delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and opens their ear in oppression.

But God teaches people by causing them to suffer; by afflicting them, he causes them to listen to [MTY] what he is telling them.

16 Yes, he would have allured you out of distress, into a wide place, where there is no restriction. That which is set on your table would be full of fatness.

“And Job, [I think that] God [wants to] bring you out of your troubles and allow you to live without distress; he wants your table to be full of very nice food.

17 “But you are full of the judgment of the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold of you.

But now, you are being punished [MTY] as wicked people are punished; [God] [PRS] has been punishing you (justly/as you deserve).

18 Do not let riches entice you to wrath, neither let the great size of a bribe turn you aside.

So be careful that you are not deceived by [desiring to acquire] money or that you are not ruined by [accepting] large bribes.

19 Would your wealth sustain you in distress, or all the might of your strength?

[If you are deceived by those things, ] it certainly will not [RHQ] help you to cry out when you are distressed; all of your strength will not help you.

20 Do not desire the night, when people are cut off in their place.

Do not wish that it would be nighttime [in order that God will not see you and punish you], because night is the time when [even] people-groups are destroyed!

21 Take heed, do not regard iniquity; for you have chosen this rather than affliction.

Be careful not to [begin doing] evil things, because [God] has caused you to suffer to prevent you from doing evil.

22 Behold, God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?

“Hey, God is extremely powerful; there is certainly [RHQ] no teacher who teaches like he does.

23 Who has prescribed his way for him? Or who can say, ‘You have committed unrighteousness’?

No one has [RHQ] told him what he should do, and no one has [RHQ] said to him, ‘You have done what is wrong!’

24 “Remember that you magnify his work, about which men have sung.

People have [always] sung to praise him, so you also should never forget to praise him for what he has done.

25 All men have looked on it. Man sees it afar off.

Everyone has seen [what he has done], but [sometimes] we can see it only from far away.

26 Behold, God is great, and we do not know him. The number of his years is unsearchable.

“Hey, God is very great, and we are not able to know how great he is, and we do not know how old he is.

27 For he draws up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor,

He draws water up [from the earth and puts it in clouds] and causes it to become rain.

28 which the skies pour down and which drop on man abundantly.

The rain pours down from the sky/clouds; God causes abundant showers to fall on everyone.

29 Indeed, can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds and the thunderings of his pavilion?

No one can [RHQ] understand how the clouds move [across the sky] or how it thunders in the sky where God lives.

30 Behold, he spreads his light around him. He covers the bottom of the sea.

He causes lightning to flash all around him, but he causes the bottom of the oceans to remain dark.

31 For by these he judges the people. He gives food in abundance.

By providing plenty of rain for us, he enables us to have abundant food.

32 He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.

[It is as though] he holds the lightning in his hands, and [then] he commands it to strike where he wants it to.

33 Its noise tells about him, and the livestock also, concerning the storm that comes up.

When we hear his thunder, we know that there will be a storm, and the cattle know it, too.”