361Elihu kept talking and said:
2Be patient with me a little longer.
I intend to inform you further,
since I have more to say on God's behalf.
3I will provide you with comprehensive knowledge,
and I will justify my Maker.
4You can be sure that none of my words are false.
A man with complete knowledge is here with you.
5Yes, God is mighty, but he does not despise people.
He is mighty and has great understanding.[] 6He does not keep a wicked man alive,
but he does give justice to the oppressed.
7He does not turn his eyes away from the righteous.
He seats them on thrones with kings
and exalts them forever.
8But if people are bound in chains,
and they are held captive by cords of affliction,
9he declares to them what they have done—
how arrogantly they have committed rebellious deeds.
10He opens their ears to accept discipline,[] and he tells them to turn back from wickedness.
11If they listen and serve him,
they will complete their days in prosperity,
and their years will end in pleasure.
12But if they do not listen,
they will be overwhelmed by a stream.[] They will breathe their last without knowledge.
13Godless hearts nourish anger.
They do not cry out for help even when he imprisons them.
14Their souls die while they are still young,
and they end their lives among the male prostitutes at their shrines.
15God delivers the afflicted by means of their affliction,
and he gets their attention through their suffering.
16Certainly he is drawing you out of the jaws of distress
to a wide-open place, where you will not be hemmed in.
You will be comfortable at your table covered with rich food.
17But now you are caught up with the judgment of the wicked,
and judgment and justice have taken hold of you.
18Watch out, so that no one lures you with luxury.
Do not let a large payment turn you aside.
19Can your affluence arrange for your security,
so that you do not suffer want?
Can even your strongest efforts accomplish that?
20Do not long for night time, when nations vanish from their place.[] 21Watch out. Do not turn to evil,
because that is why you have been tested by affliction.[] 22Listen to me. God is exalted in his power.
Who is a teacher like him?
23Who has dictated his way for him?
Who has said, “You have done wrong”?
24Remember that you should praise his work,
which people have celebrated in song.
25All mankind has observed it.
People can look at it from a distance.
26Yes, God is exalted far beyond our comprehension.
The number of his years is beyond investigation.
27He draws up drops of water from the sea,
and he distills the raindrops to form mist,
28which flow down from the clouds
and pour down abundantly on mankind.
29Indeed, who understands how the clouds spread out?
Who understands how the thunder rumbles out from his shelter?
30Look how he spreads his light[] all around him, and he covers the bottom[] of the sea. 31He uses this to bring judgment on peoples
and to provide abundant food.
32With his hands he grasps the lightning,
and he gives it orders as it advances.
33Through the thunder he sounds his war cry.
The herds sense the coming of the rising storm.[]