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Elihu Speaks of God's Dealings with Men

¹ Elihu continued and said,

² "Bear with me a little longer, and I will show you,
That there is yet more to say on God's behalf.

³ "I will bring my knowledge from afar,
And will ascribe ^(C1)righteousness to my Maker.

⁴ "For truly ^(C1)my words are not false;
He who is ^(C2)perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵ "Behold, God is mighty, and yet does not ^(C1)despise anyone nor regard any as trivial;
He is ^(C2)mighty in the strength and power of understanding.

⁶ "He does not ^(C1)prolong the life of the wicked,
But gives ^(C2)the afflicted their justice.

⁷ "He does not ^(C1)withdraw His eyes from the righteous those in right standing with Him;
But ^(C2)with kings upon the throne
He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.

⁸ "And if they are bound in bonds of adversity,
And held by cords of ^(C1)affliction, ^(VR1)

⁹ Then He declares to them the true character of their deeds
And their transgressions, that they have ^(C1)acted arrogantly with presumption and notions of self-sufficiency.

¹⁰ "^(C1)He opens their ears to instruction and discipline,
And ^(C2)commands that they return from evil.

¹¹ "If they hear and serve Him,
They will ^(C1)end their days in prosperity
And their years in ^(C2)pleasantness and joy.

¹² "But if they do not hear and obey, they will die ^(C1)by the sword of God's destructive judgments
And they will ^(C2)die in ignorance without true knowledge.

¹³ "But the godless in heart store up anger at the divine discipline;
They do not cry to Him for help when He binds them with cords of affliction. ^(VR1)

¹⁴ "They die in youth,
And their life ends among the ^(F1)(C1)cult prostitutes. ^(VR1)

¹⁵ "He rescues the afflicted in their ^(C1)affliction,
And ^(C2)opens their ears so that they pay attention to His voice in times of oppression.

¹⁶ "Then indeed, He ^(C1)enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement,
Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).

¹⁷ "But you Job were full of ^(C1)judgment on the wicked,
Judgment and justice take hold of you.

¹⁸ "Do not let ^(C1)wrath entice you into scoffing;
And do not let the greatness and the extent of the ^(C2)ransom turn you aside.

¹⁹ "Will your wealth be sufficient to keep you from the confinement of distress,
Or will all the force of your strength do it?

²⁰ "Do not long for ^(C1)the night,
When people vanish from their places.

²¹ "Take heed and be careful, ^(C1)do not turn to wickedness,
For you have chosen this the vice of complaining against God rather than learning from ^(C2)affliction.

²² "Behold, God is exalted in His power;
Who is a ruler or a ^(C1)teacher like Him?

²³ "Who has appointed God His way,
And who can say to Him, '^(C1)You have done wrong'?

²⁴ "Remember that you should ^(C1)magnify God's work,
Of which men have ^(C2)sung.

²⁵ "All men have seen God's work;
Man looks at it from a distance.

²⁶ "Behold, God is ^(C1)exalted, and ^(C2)we do not know Him;
The ^(C3)number of His years is unsearchable. ^(VR1)

²⁷ "For ^(C1)He draws up the drops of water,
They distill rain from the mist,

²⁸ Which the clouds pour down,
They drop abundantly upon mankind."

²⁹ "Can anyone understand the ^(C1)spreading of the clouds
Or the ^(C2)thundering of His pavilion? ^(VR1)

³⁰ "Behold, He spreads His lightning around Him against the dark clouds,
And He covers the depths of the sea.

³¹ "For by these mighty acts He ^(C1)judges the peoples;
He ^(C2)gives food in abundance.

³² "He covers His hands with the lightning,
And ^(C1)commands it to strike the mark.

³³ "His ^(C1)thundering voice declares awesomely His presence;
The cattle also are told of His coming storm.