Job 36:1-33 NIrV

[1] Elihu continued, [2] “Put up with me a little longer. I’ll show you I can speak up for God even more. [3] I get my knowledge from far away. I’ll announce that the God who made me is fair. [4] You can be sure that my words are true. One who has perfect knowledge is talking to you. [5] “God is mighty, but he doesn’t hate people. He’s mighty, and he knows exactly what he’s going to do. [6] He doesn’t keep alive those who are evil. Instead, he gives suffering people their rights. [7] He watches over those who do what is right. He puts them on thrones as if they were kings. He honors them forever. [8] But some people are held by chains. Their pain ties them up like ropes. [9] God tells them what they’ve done. He tells them they’ve become proud and sinned against him. [10] He makes them listen when he corrects them. He commands them to turn away from the evil things they’ve done. [11] If they obey him and serve him, they’ll enjoy a long and happy life. Things will go well with them. [12] But if they don’t listen to him, they’ll be killed by swords. They’ll die because they didn’t want to know anything about him. [13] “Those whose hearts are ungodly are always angry. Even when God puts them in chains, they don’t cry out for help. [14] They die while they are still young. They die among the male prostitutes at the temples. [15] But God saves suffering people while they suffer. He speaks to them while they are hurting. [16] “Job, he wants to take you out of the jaws of trouble. He wants to bring you to a wide and safe place. He’d like to seat you at a table that is loaded with the best food. [17] But now you are loaded down with the punishment sinners will receive. You have been judged fairly. [18] Be careful that no one tempts you with riches. Don’t take money from people who want special favors, no matter how much it is. [19] Can your wealth keep you out of trouble? Can all your mighty efforts keep you going? [20] Don’t wish for the night to come so you can drag people away from their homes. [21] Be careful not to do what is evil. You seem to like evil better than suffering! [22] “God is honored because he is so powerful. There is no teacher equal to him. [23] Who has told him what he can do? Who has said to him, ‘You have done what is wrong’? [24] Remember to thank him for what he’s done. People have praised him with their songs. [25] Every human being has seen his work. People can see it from far away. [26] How great God is! We’ll never completely understand him. We’ll never find out how long he has lived. [27] “He makes mist rise from the water. Then it falls as rain into the streams. [28] The clouds pour down their moisture. Rain showers fall on people everywhere. [29] Who can understand how God spreads out the clouds? Who can explain how he thunders from his home in heaven? [30] See how he scatters his lightning around him! He lights up the deepest parts of the ocean. [31] The rain he sends makes things grow for the nations. He provides them with plenty of food. [32] He holds lightning bolts in his hands. He commands them to strike their marks. [33] His thunder announces that a storm is coming. Even the cattle let us know it’s approaching.