Job 35-36

Job 35

¹And Elihu went on to say:

²“Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am more righteous than God.’

³For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’

⁴I will reply to you and to your friends as well.

⁵Look to the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.

⁶If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only a son of man.

⁹Men cry out under great oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty.

¹⁰But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives us songs in the night,

¹¹who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

¹²There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.

¹³Surely God does not listen to empty pleas, and the Almighty does not take note of it.

¹⁴How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him,

¹⁵and further, that in His anger He has not punished or taken much notice of folly!

¹⁶So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”

Job 36

¹And Elihu continued:

²“Bear with me a little longer, and I will show you that there is more to be said on God’s behalf.

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

⁴For truly my words are free of falsehood; one perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵Indeed, God is mighty, but He despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding.

⁶He does not keep the wicked alive, but He grants justice to the afflicted.

⁷He does not take His eyes off the righteous, but He enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever.

⁸And if men are bound with chains, caught in cords of affliction,

⁹then He tells them their deeds and how arrogantly they have transgressed.

¹⁰He opens their ears to correction and commands that they turn from iniquity.

¹¹If they obey and serve Him, then they end their days in prosperity and their years in happiness.

¹²But if they do not obey, then they perish by the sword and die without knowledge.

¹³The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when He binds them, they do not cry for help.

¹⁴They die in their youth, among the male shrine prostitutes.

¹⁵God rescues the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ears in oppression.

¹⁶Indeed, He drew you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and broad place, to a table full of richness.

¹⁷But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have seized you.

¹⁸Be careful that no one lures you with riches; do not let a large bribe lead you astray.

¹⁹Can your wealth or all your mighty effort keep you from distress?

²⁰Do not long for the night, when people vanish from their homes.

²¹Be careful not to turn to iniquity, for this you have preferred to affliction.

²²Behold, God is exalted in His power. Who is a teacher like Him?

²³Who has appointed His way for Him, or told Him, ‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴Remember to magnify His work, which men have praised in song.

²⁵All mankind has seen it; men behold it from afar.

²⁶Indeed, God is great—beyond our knowledge; the number of His years is unsearchable.

²⁷For He draws up drops of water which distill the rain from the mist,

²⁸which the clouds pour out and shower abundantly on mankind.

²⁹Furthermore, who can understand how the clouds spread out, how the thunder roars from His pavilion?

³⁰See how He scatters His lightning around Him and covers the depths of the sea.

³¹For by these He judges the nations and provides food in abundance.

³²He fills His hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark.

³³The thunder declares His presence; even the cattle regard the rising storm.