Job 36-37
Complete Jewish Bible
36 Elihu added:
2 “Bear with me a little, and I will show you
that there is more to say on God’s behalf.
3 I may search far and wide for my arguments,
but I will ascribe righteousness to God my maker.
4 For the fact is that my words are true;
you have with you a man whose views are pure.
5 “Look, God is powerful and despises no one,
powerful in his strength of understanding.
6 He does not preserve the lives of the wicked,
but he gives justice to the poor.
7 He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous;
but when he sets kings on their throne forever,
they may become proud;
8 if, then, they are bound in chains,
held in oppressive cords,
9 he shows them the results of their doings,
the crimes caused by their pride.
10 He sounds a warning in their ears
and orders them to repent of their evil.
11 “If they pay attention and obey him,
they spend their days in prosperity;
their years pass pleasantly.
12 But if they don’t pay attention,
they perish by the sword
and die without learning their lesson.
13 The godless in heart cherish their anger,
not crying for help when he binds them.
14 Their soul perishes in their youth,
and their life becomes depraved.
15 “God, with his affliction,
delivers the afflicted;
and he gets their attention
by pressing on them.
16 Indeed [Iyov], he is drawing you
away from distress
to an untroubled open place,
with rich food on your table.
17 But the judgment on the wicked
applies fully to you,
judgment and condemnation
take hold [of them].
18 For beware of wrath
when abundance entices you;
don’t let a big bribe
turn you aside.
19 Will your great wealth help you?
or all your efforts, no matter how strong?
20 Don’t desire the night,
when people suddenly die.
21 Be careful; turn away from wrongdoing;
for because of this, you have been tested by affliction.
22 “Look, God is exalted in his strength;
who is a teacher like him?
23 Who ever prescribed his course for him?
Who ever said, ‘What you are doing is wrong’?
24 Remember, rather, to magnify his work,
of which many have sung.
25 Everyone has seen it,
[but] humans see it [only] from a distance.
26 Look, God is great, beyond what we can know;
the number of his years is uncountable.
27 “He makes the droplets of water,
which condense into rain from his mist.
28 The clouds pour it down
upon humankind in abundance.
29 Can anyone fathom the spreading of the clouds,
or the crashes that come from his canopy?
30 See how he scatters his lightning over it
and covers the roots of the sea.
31 By these things he judges the people
and also gives food in plenty.
32 He gathers the lightning into his hands
and commands it to strike the target.
33 Its crashing announces its presence
and apprises the cattle of what is coming.
37 “At this, my own heart trembles
and leaps out of its place.
2 Just listen to the rumbling of his voice,
to the thunder that comes from his mouth!
3 He sends it out under all of heaven,
his lightning to the ends of the earth.
4 There follows a sound, a roar —
he is thundering with his majestic voice,
and he keeps releasing [the lightning]
even while his voice is being heard.
5 “God thunders wonderfully with his voice,
he does great things beyond our understanding.
6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth!’ —
likewise to the light rain, also to the downpour.
7 He brings all human activity to a stop,
so that everyone he has made can know it.
8 Then the animals go into their lairs
and hibernate in their dens.
9 “Out of its chamber comes the storm,
with cold out of the north.
10 By the breath of God, ice is given,
and the wide waters freeze over.
11 He weighs the clouds down with moisture,
and they flash forth his lightning.
12 He, by his plans, turns them around,
so they do what he commands them anywhere on earth;
13 he brings them forth on the earth
sometimes to punish, sometimes to express his grace.
14 “Listen to this, Iyov!
Stop, and consider God’s wonders.
15 Do you know how God puts them in place,
how he causes lightning to flash from his cloud?
16 Do you know how he balances the clouds?
These are marvels of him who knows everything!
17 “You, sweltering in your clothing
as the earth lies still under a sultry south wind,
18 can you, with him, spread out the sky,
hard as a cast metal mirror?
19 Teach us what we should tell him,
for the darkness keeps us from organizing our case.
20 Is he to be told that I will speak?
Can a man speak at all when he is already swallowed up?
21 Now people don’t see the light,
which is bright in the sky;
but then the wind blows
and clears [the clouds] away.
22 Out of the north comes a golden glow,
fearsome majesty surrounding God.
23 Shaddai, whom we cannot find,
whose power is immense,
in his great righteousness
does not pervert justice.
24 This is why people fear him;
he does not consider those
who think of themselves as wise.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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