Job 36 - Amplified Bible(AMP)

Elihu Speaks of God’s Dealings with Men

1Elihu continued and said,

2“Bear with me a little longer, and I will show you,

That there is yet more to say on God’s behalf.

3“I will bring my knowledge from afar,

And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

4“For truly my words are not false;

He who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

5“Behold, God is mighty, and yet does not despise anyone;

He is mighty in the strength and power of understanding.

6“He does not prolong the life of the wicked,

But gives the afflicted their justice.

7“He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous;

But with kings upon the throne

He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.

8“And if they are bound in bonds,

And held by cords of affliction,

9Then He declares to them their deeds

And their transgressions, that they have acted arrogantly.

10“He opens their ears to instruction and discipline,

And commands that they return from evil.

11“If they hear and serve Him,

They will end their days in prosperity

And their years in pleasantness and joy.

12“But if they do not hear and obey, they will die by the sword

And they will die without knowledge.

13“But the godless in heart store up anger;

They do not cry for help when He binds them.

14“They die in youth,

And their life ends among the cult prostitutes.

15“He rescues the afflicted in their affliction,

And opens their ears in times of oppression.

16“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement,

Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress;

And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).

17¶“But you were full of judgment on the wicked,

Judgment and justice take hold of you.

18“Do not let wrath entice you into scoffing;

And do not let the greatness and the extent of the ransom turn you aside.

19“Will your wealth keep you from distress,

Or will all the force of your strength do it?

20“Do not long for the night,

When people vanish from their places.

21“Take heed and be careful, do not turn to wickedness,

For you have chosen this rather than affliction.

22“Behold, God is exalted in His power;

Who is a ruler or a teacher like Him?

23“Who has appointed God His way,

And who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?

24¶“Remember that you should magnify God’s work,

Of which men have sung.

25“All men have seen God’s work;

Man looks at it from a distance.

26“Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him;

The number of His years is unsearchable.

27“For He draws up the drops of water,

They distill rain from the mist,

28Which the clouds pour down,

They drop abundantly upon mankind.”

29“Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds

Or the thundering of His pavilion?

30“Behold, He spreads His lightning around Him,

And He covers the depths of the sea.

31“For by these He judges the peoples;

He gives food in abundance.

32“He covers His hands with the lightning,

And commands it to strike the mark.

33“His thundering voice declares His presence;

The cattle also are told of His coming storm.