Job 36
1 Elihu continued speaking.
And Elihu added and said: —
2 “Be patient with me just a little while longer and let me explain. I still have something to say on God's behalf.
Restrain thyself for me a little, and I will shew thee, that, yet—for GOD, there is justification,
3 I will share my extensive knowledge, and I will prove my Creator is in the right.
I will bring my knowledge from afar, and, to my Maker, will I attribute righteousness.
4 I assure you that what I'm saying are not lies, for I am a man whose knowledge is of the highest order.
For, of a truth—not false, are my words, One of competent knowledge, is with thee.
5 God is mighty, but doesn't despise anyone; he is powerful in strength and understanding.
Lo! GOD, is mighty, yet will he not despise, Mighty in vigour of mind;
6 He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives justice to the oppressed.
He will not keep alive one who is lawless, but, the right of oppressed ones, will he grant;
7 He always pays attention those who do right, and places them on thrones with kings, honoring them eternally.
He will not withdraw—from a righteous one—his eyes, —but, with kings on the throne, He hath seated men triumphantly, and they have been exalted.
8 If they are bound in chains, tied down by ropes of suffering,
But, if, bound in fetters, they have been captured with cords of affliction,
9 then he explains to them what they've done—their arrogant sins.
Then hath he declared to them their deed, and their transgressions—that they were wont to behave themselves proudly;
10 He makes them pay attention and orders them to stop sinning.
Thus hath he uncovered their ear to a warning, and said—that they should turn from iniquity.
11 If they listen and do what God says they will live out their lives in happiness.
If they would hearken, and serve, they should complete their days, in prosperity, and their years, in pleasantness;
12 But if they do not listen they will die a violent death, ignorant of God.
But, if they would not hearken, by a weapon, should they pass away, and breathe their last, no one knowing.
13 Those who reject God hold on to their bitterness. Even when he disciplines them they do not cry out to him for help.
Yea, the impious in heart, should store up anger, They should not cry for help, when he bound them.
14 They die in their youth; their lives end among the male temple prostitutes.
Their soul should die in youth, and their life, among the unclean.
15 Through suffering God saves those who suffer; he gets their attention through their troubles.
He would deliver the humbled in his humiliation, and would uncover—in oppression—their ear.
16 God is trying to rescue you from the jaws of trouble to a place of freedom and safety, filling your table full of the very best food.
Yea he might even have allured thee—out of the mouth of straitness, [into] a wide space—no narrowness there, —and, the food set down on thy table, should have been full of fatness.
17 But you are preoccupied with the fate of the wicked; judgment and justice fill your mind.
But, with the plea of a lawless one, thou art full, Plea and sentence, will take fast hold.
18 But be careful that your anger doesn't seduce you into mockery; and don't let the size of the ‘bribe’ lead you into sin.
Because there is wrath, [beware] lest he take thee away with a stroke, Then let not, a great ransom, mislead thee.
19 Will your cry for help sustain you when troubles come?
Will he value thy riches? Nay not precious ore, nor all the forces of strength.
20 Do not long for the night when people are suddenly taken away.
Do not pant for the night, when peoples disappear from their place.
21 Watch out that you don't turn to evil! For it's because of this that you are being tested through suffering.
Beware, do not turn unto iniquity, For, this, thou hast chosen rather than affliction.
22 Look how much power God has! What teacher is like him?
Lo, GOD, exalteth himself by his strength, Who like him doth teach?
23 Who has instructed him what to do? Who can say to him ‘You have done wrong’?
Who enjoined on him his way? and who ever said, Thou hast wrought perversity?
24 Instead you should praise him for what he has done, as people have done in song.
Remember, that thou extol his work, of which men have sung;
25 Everyone has seen God's creation, though only from a distance.
Every son of earth, hath viewed it, Mortal man, looketh at it from afar.
26 See how great God is—more than we can understand! No one can count his years.
Lo, GOD, is greater than we can know, The number of his years, even past finding out!
27 He draws up the water and distils it into the dew and the rain.
For he draweth up drops of water, They trickle as rain through his mist;
28 The clouds pour down rain, falling plentifully on humankind.
With which the clouds flow down, They drop on man in abundance.
29 Can anyone understand how the clouds spread out, or how thunder roars from where he lives?
But surely none can understand the burstings of the cloud, the crashing of his pavilion!
30 See how he scatters lightning around him, and covers the depths of the sea in darkness.
Lo! he hath spread out over it, his lightning, The bed of the sea, hath he covered.
31 By these actions he rules the people, he provides abundant food.
For, by those things, he executeth judgment on peoples, He giveth food in abundance:
32 He holds lightning in his hands and commands where it should strike.
Upon both hands, he putteth a covering of lightning, and layeth command upon it against an assailant:
33 Thunder declares his presence—even cattle know when a storm is coming.
His rolling thunder telleth concerning him, —The cattle, even, concerning him that is coming up.
