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Job 36

¹Elihu continued speaking:

²“Let me go on, and I will show you the truth. For I have not finished defending God!

³I will present profound arguments for the righteousness of my Creator.

⁴I am telling you nothing but the truth, for I am a man of great knowledge.

⁵“God is mighty, but he does not despise anyone! He is mighty in both power and understanding.

⁶He does not let the wicked live but gives justice to the afflicted.

⁷He never takes his eyes off the innocent, but he sets them on thrones with kings and exalts them forever.

⁸If they are bound in chains and caught up in a web of trouble,

⁹he shows them the reason. He shows them their sins of pride.

¹⁰He gets their attention and commands that they turn from evil.

¹¹“If they listen and obey God, they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives. All their years will be pleasant.

¹²But if they refuse to listen to him, they will cross over the river of death, dying from lack of understanding.

¹³For the godless are full of resentment. Even when he punishes them, they refuse to cry out to him for help.

¹⁴They die when they are young, after wasting their lives in immoral living.

¹⁵But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer. For he gets their attention through adversity.

¹⁶“God is leading you away from danger, Job, to a place free from distress. He is setting your table with the best food.

¹⁷But you are obsessed with whether the godless will be judged. Don’t worry, judgment and justice will be upheld.

¹⁸But watch out, or you may be seduced by wealth. Don’t let yourself be bribed into sin.

¹⁹Could all your wealth or all your mighty efforts keep you from distress?

²⁰Do not long for the cover of night, for that is when people will be destroyed.

²¹Be on guard! Turn back from evil, for God sent this suffering to keep you from a life of evil.

Elihu Reminds Job of God’s Power

²²“Look, God is all-powerful. Who is a teacher like him?

²³No one can tell him what to do, or say to him, ‘You have done wrong.’

²⁴Instead, glorify his mighty works, singing songs of praise.

²⁵Everyone has seen these things, though only from a distance.

²⁶“Look, God is greater than we can understand. His years cannot be counted.

²⁷He draws up the water vapor and then distills it into rain.

²⁸The rain pours down from the clouds, and everyone benefits.

²⁹Who can understand the spreading of the clouds and the thunder that rolls forth from heaven?

³⁰See how he spreads the lightning around him and how it lights up the depths of the sea.

³¹By these mighty acts he nourishes the people, giving them food in abundance.

³²He fills his hands with lightning bolts and hurls each at its target.

³³The thunder announces his presence; the storm announces his indignant anger.

Job 36 (NLT)

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Job

Chapter 36

36 of 42