1Elihu continued speaking:

2“Let me go on, and I will show you the truth.

For I have not finished defending God!

3I will present profound arguments

for the righteousness of my Creator.

4I 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.

6He does not let the wicked live

but gives justice to the afflicted.

7He never takes his eyes off the innocent,

but he sets them on thrones with kings

and exalts them forever.

8If they are bound in chains

and caught up in a web of trouble,

9he shows them the reason.

He shows them their sins of pride.

10He 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.

12But if they refuse to listen to him,

they will cross over the river of death,

dying from lack of understanding.

13For the godless are full of resentment.

Even when he punishes them,

they refuse to cry out to him for help.

14They die when they are young,

after wasting their lives in immoral living.

15But 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.

17But you are obsessed with whether the godless will be judged.

Don’t worry, judgment and justice will be upheld.

18But watch out, or you may be seduced by wealth.a

Don’t let yourself be bribed into sin.

19Could all your wealthb

or all your mighty efforts

keep you from distress?

20Do not long for the cover of night,

for that is when people will be destroyed.c

21Be on guard! Turn back from evil,

for God sent this suffering

to keep you from a life of evil.

Elihu Reminds Job of God’s Power

22“Look, God is all-powerful.

Who is a teacher like him?

23No one can tell him what to do,

or say to him, ‘You have done wrong.’

24Instead, glorify his mighty works,

singing songs of praise.

25Everyone has seen these things,

though only from a distance.

26“Look, God is greater than we can understand.

His years cannot be counted.

27He draws up the water vapor

and then distills it into rain.

28The rain pours down from the clouds,

and everyone benefits.

29Who can understand the spreading of the clouds

and the thunder that rolls forth from heaven?

30See how he spreads the lightning around him

and how it lights up the depths of the sea.

31By these mighty acts he nourishesd the people,

giving them food in abundance.

32He fills his hands with lightning bolts

and hurls each at its target.

33The thunder announces his presence;

the storm announces his indignant anger.e