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36:1  Elihu kept talking and said:
36:2  Be patient with me a little longer. I intend to inform you further, since I have more to say on God’s behalf.
36:3  I will provide you with comprehensive knowledge, and I will justify my Maker.
36:4  You can be sure that none of my words are false. A man with complete knowledge is here with you.
36:5  Yes, God is mighty, but he does not despise people. He is mighty and has great understanding.
36:6  He does not keep a wicked man alive, but he does give justice to the oppressed.
36:7  He does not turn his eyes away from the righteous. He seats them on thrones with kings and exalts them forever.
36:8  But if people are bound in chains, and they are held captive by cords of affliction,
36:9  he declares to them what they have done— how arrogantly they have committed rebellious deeds.
36:10  He opens their ears to accept discipline, and he tells them to turn back from wickedness.
36:11  If they listen and serve him, they will complete their days in prosperity, and their years will end in pleasure.
36:12  But if they do not listen, they will be overwhelmed by a stream. They will breathe their last without knowledge.
36:13  Godless hearts nourish anger. They do not cry out for help even when he imprisons them.
36:14  Their souls die while they are still young, and they end their lives among the male prostitutes at their shrines.
36:15  God delivers the afflicted by means of their affliction, and he gets their attention through their suffering.
36:16  Certainly 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.
36:17  But now you are caught up with the judgment of the wicked, and judgment and justice have taken hold of you.
36:18  Watch out, so that no one lures you with luxury. Do not let a large payment turn you aside.
36:19  Can your affluence arrange for your security, so that you do not suffer want? Can even your strongest efforts accomplish that?
36:20  Do not long for night time, when nations vanish from their place.
36:21  Watch out. Do not turn to evil, because that is why you have been tested by affliction.
36:22  Listen to me. God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?
36:23  Who has dictated his way for him? Who has said, “You have done wrong”?
36:24  Remember that you should praise his work, which people have celebrated in song.
36:25  All mankind has observed it. People can look at it from a distance.
36:26  Yes, God is exalted far beyond our comprehension. The number of his years is beyond investigation.
36:27  He draws up drops of water from the sea, and he distills the raindrops to form mist,
36:28  which flow down from the clouds and pour down abundantly on mankind.
36:29  Indeed, who understands how the clouds spread out? Who understands how the thunder rumbles out from his shelter?
36:30  Look how he spreads his light all around him, and he covers the bottom of the sea.
36:31  He uses this to bring judgment on peoples and to provide abundant food.
36:32  With his hands he grasps the lightning, and he gives it orders as it advances.
36:33  Through the thunder he sounds his war cry. The herds sense the coming of the rising storm.