Job 36 — FBV
36Verse 1Elihu continued speaking.Verse 2“Be patient with me just a little while longer and let me explain. I still have something to say on God's behalf.Verse 3I will share my extensive knowledge,+and I will prove my Creator is in the right.Verse 4I assure you that what I'm saying are not lies, for I am a man whose knowledge is of the highest order.+Verse 5God is mighty, but doesn't despise anyone; he is powerful in strength and understanding.Verse 6He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives justice to the oppressed.Verse 7He always pays attention+to those who do right, and places them on thrones with kings, honoring them eternally.Verse 8If they are bound in chains, tied down by ropes of suffering,Verse 9then he explains to them what they've done—their arrogant sins.Verse 10He makes them pay attention+and orders them to stop sinning.Verse 11If they listen and do what God says they will live out their lives in happiness.Verse 12But if they do not listen they will die a violent death,+ignorant of God.Verse 13Those who reject God hold on to their bitterness. Even when he disciplines them they do not cry out to him for help.Verse 14They die in their youth; their lives end among the male temple prostitutes.+Verse 15Through suffering God saves those who suffer; he gets their attention through their troubles.Verse 16God 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.Verse 17But you are preoccupied with the fate of the wicked; judgment and justice fill your mind.Verse 18But be careful that your anger doesn't seduce you into mockery; and don't let the size of the ‘bribe’+lead you into sin.Verse 19Will your cry for help sustain you when troubles come?+Verse 20Do not long for the night when people are suddenly taken away.+Verse 21Watch out that you don't turn to evil! For it's because of this that you are being tested through suffering.Verse 22Look how much power God has! What teacher is like him?Verse 23Who has instructed him what to do? Who can say to him ‘You have done wrong’?Verse 24Instead you should praise him for what he has done, as people have done in song.+Verse 25Everyone has seen God's creation, though only from a distance.+Verse 26See how great God is—more than we can understand! No one can count his years.Verse 27He draws up the water and distils it into the dew and the rain.Verse 28The clouds pour down rain, falling plentifully on humankind.Verse 29Can anyone understand how the clouds spread out, or how thunder roars from where he lives?+Verse 30See how he scatters lightning around him, and covers the depths of the sea in darkness.Verse 31By these actions he rules the people, he provides abundant food.Verse 32He holds lightning in his hands and commands where it should strike.Verse 33Thunder declares his presence—even cattle know when a storm is coming.”+