36.

1 Elihu continued speaking.

2 "Let me go on, and I will show you the truth.For I have not finished defending God!

3 I will present profound arguments for the righteousness of my Creator.

4 I am telling you nothing but the truth, for I am a man of great knowledge.

5 "God is mighty, but he does not despise anyone! He is mighty in both power and understanding.

6 He does not let the wicked live but gives justice to the afflicted.

7 He never takes his eyes off the innocent, but he sets them on thrones with kings and exalts them forever.

8 If they are bound in chains and caught up in a web of trouble,

9 he shows them the reason.He shows them their sins of pride.

10 He gets their attention and commands that they turn from evil.

11 "If they listen and obey God, they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives.All their years will be pleasant.

12 But if they refuse to listen to him, they will be killed by the sword and die from lack of understanding.

13 For the godless are full of resentment.Even when he punishes them, they refuse to cry out to him for help.

14 They die when they are young, after wasting their lives in immoral living.

15 But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer.For he gets their attention through adversity.

16 "God is leading you away from danger, Job, to a place free from distress.He is setting your table with the best food.

17 But you are obsessed with whether the godless will be judged.Don't worry, judgment and justice will be upheld.

18 But watch out, or you may be seduced by wealth. Don't let yourself be bribed into sin.

19 Could all your wealth or all your mighty efforts keep you from distress?

20 Do not long for the cover of night, for that is when people will be destroyed.

21 Be on guard! Turn back from evil, for God sent this suffering to keep you from a life of evil.

22 "Look, God is all-powerful.Who is a teacher like him?

23 No one can tell him what to do, or say to him, 'You have done wrong.'

24 Instead, glorify his mighty works, singing songs of praise.

25 Everyone has seen these things, though only from a distance.

26 "Look, God is greater than we can understand.His years cannot be counted.

27 He draws up the water vapor and then distills it into rain.

28 The rain pours down from the clouds, and everyone benefits.

29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds and the thunder that rolls forth from heaven?

30 See how he spreads the lightning around him and how it lights up the depths of the sea.

31 By these mighty acts he nourishes the people, giving them food in abundance.

32 He fills his hands with lightning bolts and hurls each at its target.

33 The thunder announces his presence; the storm announces his indignant anger.

1 "My heart pounds as I think of this.It trembles within me.

2 Listen carefully to the thunder of God's voice as it rolls from his mouth.

3 It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction.

4 Then comes the roaring of the thunder - the tremendous voice of his majesty.He does not restrain it when he speaks.

5 God's voice is glorious in the thunder.We can't even imagine the greatness of his power.

6 "He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down.

7 Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power.

8 The wild animals take cover and stay inside their dens.

9 The stormy wind comes from its chamber, and the driving winds bring the cold.

10 God's breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water.

11 He loads the clouds with moisture, and they flash with his lightning.

12 The clouds churn about at his direction.They do whatever he commands throughout the earth.

13 He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love.

14 "Pay attention to this, Job.Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!

15 Do you know how God controls the storm and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds?

16 Do you understand how he moves the clouds with wonderful perfection and skill?

17 When you are sweltering in your clothes and the south wind dies down and everything is still,

18 he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror.Can you do that?

19 "So teach the rest of us what to say to God.We are too ignorant to make our own arguments.

20 Should God be notified that I want to speak? Can people even speak when they are confused?

21 We cannot look at the sun, for it shines brightly in the sky when the wind clears away the clouds.

22 So also, golden splendor comes from the mountain of God. He is clothed in dazzling splendor.

23 We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty; but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us.

24 No wonder people everywhere fear him.All who are wise show him reverence."

1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind.

2 "Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?

3 Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

4 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.

5 Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?

6 What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone

7 as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

8 "Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb,

9 and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness?

10 For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores.

11 I said, 'This far and no farther will you come.Here your proud waves must stop!'

12 "Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?

13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night's wickedness?

14 As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors.

15 The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

16 "Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths?

17 Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?

18 Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!

19 "Where does light come from, and where does darkness go?

20 Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?

21 But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!

22 "Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail?

23 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.)

24 Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind?

25 "Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?

26 Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?

27 Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up?

28 "Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew?

29 Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?

30 For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes.

31 "Can you direct the movement of the stars - binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?

32 Can you direct the sequence of the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?

33 Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?

34 "Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?

35 Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?

36 Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind?

37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven

38 when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods?

39 "Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions' appetites

40 as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket?

41 Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger?

1 "Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched as deer are born in the wild?

2 Do you know how many months they carry their young? Are you aware of the time of their delivery?

3 They crouch down to give birth to their young and deliver their offspring.

4 Their young grow up in the open fields, then leave home and never return.

5 "Who gives the wild donkey its freedom? Who untied its ropes?

6 I have placed it in the wilderness; its home is the wasteland.

7 It hates the noise of the city and has no driver to shout at it.

8 The mountains are its pastureland, where it searches for every blade of grass.

9 "Will the wild ox consent to being tamed? Will it spend the night in your stall?

10 Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow? Will it plow a field for you?

11 Given its strength, can you trust it? Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work?

12 Can you rely on it to bring home your grain and deliver it to your threshing floor?

13 "The ostrich flaps her wings grandly, but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.

14 She lays her eggs on top of the earth, letting them be warmed in the dust.

15 She doesn't worry that a foot might crush them or a wild animal might destroy them.

16 She is harsh toward her young, as if they were not her own.She doesn't care if they die.

17 For God has deprived her of wisdom.He has given her no understanding.

18 But whenever she jumps up to run, she passes the swiftest horse with its rider.

19 "Have you given the horse its strength or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?

20 Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust? Its majestic snorting is terrifying!

21 It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength when it charges out to battle.

22 It laughs at fear and is unafraid.It does not run from the sword.

23 The arrows rattle against it, and the spear and javelin flash.

24 It paws the ground fiercely and rushes forward into battle when the ram's horn blows.

25 It snorts at the sound of the horn.It senses the battle in the distance.It quivers at the captain's commands and the noise of battle.

26 "Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar and spread its wings toward the south?

27 Is it at your command that the eagle rises to the heights to make its nest?

28 It lives on the cliffs, making its home on a distant, rocky crag.

29 From there it hunts its prey, keeping watch with piercing eyes.

30 Its young gulp down blood.Where there's a carcass, there you'll find it."

1 Then the LORD said to Job,

2 "Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God's critic, but do you have the answers?"

3 Then Job replied to the LORD,

4 "I am nothing - how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand.

5 I have said too much already.I have nothing more to say."

6 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind.

7 "Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

8 "Will you discredit my justice and condemn me just to prove you are right?

9 Are you as strong as God? Can you thunder with a voice like his?

10 All right, put on your glory and splendor, your honor and majesty.

11 Give vent to your anger.Let it overflow against the proud.

12 Humiliate the proud with a glance; walk on the wicked where they stand.

13 Bury them in the dust.Imprison them in the world of the dead.

14 Then even I would praise you, for your own strength would save you.

15 "Take a look at Behemoth, which I made, just as I made you.It eats grass like an ox.

16 See its powerful loins and the muscles of its belly.

17 Its tail is as strong as a cedar.The sinews of its thighs are knit tightly together.

18 Its bones are tubes of bronze.Its limbs are bars of iron.

19 It is a prime example of God's handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it.

20 The mountains offer it their best food, where all the wild animals play.

21 It lies under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds in the marsh.

22 The lotus plants give it shade among the willows beside the stream.

23 It is not disturbed by the raging river, not concerned when the swelling Jordan rushes around it.

24 No one can catch it off guard or put a ring in its nose and lead it away.