Job 35 - 36
Elihu Answers Job
35Then Elihu answered and said,
2“Do you think this is according to ajustice?Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?3“For you say, ‘aWhat use will it be to 1You?bWhat profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’4“I will respond to you,And your friends with you.5“aLook at the heavens and see;And perceive bthe clouds—they are higher than you.6“If you have sinned, awhat do you accomplish against Him?And if your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him?7“If you are righteous, awhat do you give to Him,Or what does He receive from your hand?8“Your wickedness is for a man like yourself,And your righteousness is for a son of man.9“Because of amany oppressions they cry out;They cry for help because of the arm bof many oppressors.10“But ano one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,Who bgives songs of praise in the night,11Who ateaches us more than the beasts of the earthAnd makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’12“There athey cry out, but He does not answerBecause of the pride of evil men.13“Surely aGod will not listen to 1an empty cry,Nor will the Almighty perceive it.14“How much less when ayou say you do not perceive Him,The bcase is before Him, and you must wait for Him!15“And now, because He has not visited in His anger,Nor has He acknowledged 1transgression well,16So Job opens his mouth vainly;He multiplies words awithout knowledge.”Elihu Says God Gives the Afflicted Justice
36Then Elihu continued and said,
2“Wait for me a little, and I will show youThat there 1is yet more to be said in God’s behalf.3“I will take up my knowledge from afar,And I will ascribe arighteousness to my Maker.4“For truly amy words are not a lie;One who is 1,bperfect in knowledge is with you.5“Behold, God is mighty but does not areject;He is bmighty in the power of His heart.6“He does not akeep the wicked alive,But gives justice to bthe afflicted.7“He does not awithdraw His eyes from the righteous;But bwith kings on the throneHe has seated them forever, and they are exalted.8“And if they are bound in fetters,And are caught in the cords of aaffliction,9Then He declares to them their workAnd their transgressions, that they have amagnified themselves.10“aHe opens their ear to discipline,And bsays that they return from wickedness.11“If they hear and serve Him,They will aend their days in prosperityAnd their years in bpleasures.12“But if they do not hear, they shall pass away aby a weaponAnd they will bbreathe their last without knowledge.13“But the godless in heart lay up anger;They do not cry for help when He binds them.14“1They die in youth,And their life perishes among the acult prostitutes.15“He delivers the afflicted in 1their aaffliction,And bopens their ear in 2time of oppression.16“Then indeed, He aenticed you from the mouth of distress,Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;And the comfort of your table full of 1fatness.17“But you were full of ajudgment on the wicked;Judgment and justice take hold of you.18“Beware lest awrath entice you to scoffing;And do not let the greatness of the batonement turn you aside.19“Will your 1cries keep you from distress,Or all the forces of your power?20“Do not long for athe night,When people 1vanish in their place.21“Be careful, do anot turn to wickedness,For you have chosen this to baffliction.22“Behold, God is exalted in His power;Who is a ateacher like Him?23“Who has appointed Him His way,And who has said, ‘aYou have worked out 1unrighteousness’?24“Remember that you should aexalt His work,Of which men have bsung.25“All men have beheld it;Man looks from afar.26“Behold, God is aexalted, and bwe do not know Him;The cnumber of His years is unsearchable.27“For aHe draws up the drops of water,They distill rain for His 1stream,28Which the clouds pour down,They drip upon man abundantly.29“Can anyone discern the aspreading of the clouds,The bthundering of His 1pavilion?30“Behold, He spreads His 1lightning about Him,And He covers the depths of the sea.31“For by these He ajudges peoples;He bgives food in abundance.32“He covers His hands with the 1lightning,And acommands it to strike the mark.33“Its athundering declares about Him;The cattle also, concerning what is coming up.