Job 36

Elihu tells Job to be patient

1 Elihu continued to speak to Job. This is what he said:

2 ‘Be patient a little bit longer,

so that I can teach you some more.

I still have more to say

to show you that God is right.

3 I will tell you the many different things that I know.

I will show you that God, my Maker, is completely fair.

4 Everything that I say to you is true.

I am speaking to you as someone who knows everything.

5 God is very powerful

but he does not turn anyone away.

When he decides to do something,

he surely does it.

6 He does not allow wicked people to continue to live.

But he is always fair to those who are poor and weak.

7 He takes care of righteous people.

He gives them authority to rule like kings.

He gives them honour for ever.

8 People who do wrong things may suffer in prison.

Chains may hold their legs so that they cannot move.

9 When that happens,

God shows them what they have done.

He shows them their sins.

They have done wrong things because they are proud.

10 He tells them this to warn them.

They must turn away from wicked things.

11 They must obey him and agree to serve him.

If they do that, they will have everything that they need.

They will enjoy all the days that they live.

12 But if they refuse to listen to God,

they will go to their graves.

They will die

and they still will not understand what is right.

13 People who turn away from God are always angry.

Even when God punishes them,

they do not pray for help.

14 They die while they are still young.

Their lives finish in shame,

among the male prostitutes who serve false gods.

15 But God rescues people who suffer.

He uses their troubles to teach them about himself.

16 God has called you out of your troubles, Job.

He wants you to live in a safe place

where you have no problems.

He wants you to have a comfortable life

with plenty of good food to eat.

17 But now you have a lot of trouble,

because God is punishing you as wicked people deserve.

God is right and fair to judge you like that.

18 Be very careful!

Do not let anyone use their riches to deceive you.

Do not let them pay you a lot of money

to do something that is wrong.

19 Even if you become rich,

that would not keep you safe.

Even if you were strong and powerful,

that would not keep trouble away from you.

20 Do not wait for the night to hide what you want to do.

That is the time when people disappear from their homes.

21 Be careful! Do not try to do wicked things.

God has sent these troubles to test you.

He wants to stop you doing evil things.

22 Yes, God is very powerful.

There is no teacher as good as he is.

23 Nobody can tell him what he should do.

No one can say to him,

“You have done things that are wrong.”

24 People sing songs to praise God

for the things that he has done.

You also should remember to praise him.

25 People everywhere have seen the things that God has done.

But we look at them from far away.

26 Yes, God is very great!

We cannot know him completely.

Nobody can count the number of his years!

27 It is God who pulls up water from the earth

to make the clouds.

Then he causes it to become rain.

28 The rain pours down from the clouds.

There is plenty for the people on the earth.

29 Who understands how the clouds move across the sky?

How does the noise of thunder come from God's home?

30 Look at the lightning that God sends all over the sky!

But he causes the bottom of the sea to remain dark.

31 This is the way that God rules the people of the world.

He sends the rain to give them plenty of food.

32 He sends his lightning like an arrow.

He commands it to hit the right place.

33 He sends thunder to show that a storm is coming.

Even the cows know what is happening.’