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35 Elihu continued talking and said,

“Job, it is not fair for you to say,
    ‘I am more right than God,’
because you also ask him,
    ‘What’s the use of trying to please you?
    What good will it do me if I don’t sin?’

“Job, I want to answer you and your friends here with you.
Look up at the sky.
    Look at the clouds, which are so much higher than you.
If you sin, it does not hurt God.
    Even if your sins are too many to count, that does nothing to God.
And if you are good, that does not help God.
    He gets nothing from you.
Job, the good and bad things you do
    affect only other people like yourself.

“If people are being hurt, they cry out
    and beg for protection from those who hurt them.
10 But they forget to say, ‘Where is God, the one who made me?
    He is the one who gives us songs to sing in the night.
11 He is the one who makes us smarter than any animal on earth
    and wiser than any bird.’

12 “Or if evil people ask God for help, he will not answer them,
    because they are too proud.
13 God will not listen to their worthless begging.
    God All-Powerful will not pay attention to them.
14 So, Job, God will not listen to you
    when you say that you don’t see him.
You say you are waiting for your chance to meet with him
    and prove that you are innocent.

15 “Job thinks that God does not punish evil
    and that he pays no attention to sin.
16 So he continues his worthless talking.
    Everything he has said shows he does not know what he is talking about.”

36 Elihu continued talking and said,

“Be patient with me a little longer.
    God has a few more words that he wants me to say.
I will share my knowledge with everyone.
    I will prove that my Maker is right.
Job, I am telling the truth.
    I know what I am talking about.

“God is very powerful, but he does not hate people.
    He is very powerful, but he is also very wise.
He will not let evil people live.
    He brings justice to the poor.
He watches over those who live right.
    He lets them rule in high places.
So if people are punished,
    if they are tied with chains and ropes, they did something wrong.
And God will tell them what they did,
    that they sinned and were proud.
10 He will force them to listen to his warning.
    He will command them to stop sinning.
11 If they serve and obey him, he will make them successful
    and they will live a happy life.
12 But if they refuse to obey him, they will be destroyed.
    They will die like fools.

13 “People who don’t care about God are always bitter.
    Even when he punishes them, they refuse to pray to him for help.
14 They will die while they are still young,
    like the male prostitutes.
15 God saves those who suffer by using their suffering.
    He uses their troubles to speak in a way that makes them listen.

16 “In fact, God wants to help you out of your troubles.
    He wants to take away your burdens that are crushing you.
    He wants to load your table with plenty of food.
17 But you are full of this talk about guilt, judgment, and justice!
18 Job, don’t let your anger fill you with doubt about God.
    And don’t let the price of forgiveness turn you away.
19 Do you think your wealth will keep you out of trouble?
    Will your great strength be of any help to you now?
20 Don’t be like those who wish darkness would come and hide them.
    They try to disappear into the night.[a]
21 Job, don’t let your suffering cause you to choose evil.
    Be careful not to do wrong.

22 “Look, God’s power makes him great!
    He is the greatest teacher of all.
23 No one can tell him what to do.
    No one can say, ‘God, you have done wrong.’
24 Remember to praise him for what he has done,
    as many others have done in song.
25 Everyone can see what he has done,
    even people in faraway countries.
26 Yes, God is great, but we cannot understand his greatness.
    We don’t know how long he has lived.

27 “God takes up water from the earth
    and changes it into mist and rain.
28 So the clouds pour out the water,
    and the rain falls on many people.
29 No one can understand how he spreads the clouds out
    or how the thunder rumbles from his home in the sky.
30 Look, he spreads lightning all over the sky
    and covers the deepest part of the ocean.
31 He uses them to control the nations
    and to give them plenty of food.
32 He grabs the lightning with his hands,
    and commands it to strike where he wants.
33 The thunder warns that a storm is coming.
    So even the cattle know it is near.

Footnotes

  1. Job 36:20 The Hebrew text here is hard to understand.

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