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36:1  Elihu continued,
36:2  “Put up with me a little longer. I’ll show you I can speak up for God even more.
36:3  I get my knowledge from far away. I’ll announce that the God who made me is fair.
36:4  You can be sure that my words are true. One who has perfect knowledge is talking to you.
36:5  “God is mighty, but he doesn’t hate people. He’s mighty, and he knows exactly what he’s going to do.
36:6  He doesn’t keep alive those who are evil. Instead, he gives suffering people their rights.
36:7  He watches over those who do what is right. He puts them on thrones as if they were kings. He honors them forever.
36:8  But some people are held by chains. Their pain ties them up like ropes.
36:9  God tells them what they’ve done. He tells them they’ve become proud and sinned against him.
36:10  He makes them listen when he corrects them. He commands them to turn away from the evil things they’ve done.
36:11  If they obey him and serve him, they’ll enjoy a long and happy life. Things will go well with them.
36:12  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.
36:13  “Those whose hearts are ungodly are always angry. Even when God puts them in chains, they don’t cry out for help.
36:14  They die while they are still young. They die among the male prostitutes at the temples.
36:15  But God saves suffering people while they suffer. He speaks to them while they are hurting.
36:16  “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.
36:17  But now you are loaded down with the punishment sinners will receive. You have been judged fairly.
36:18  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.
36:19  Can your wealth keep you out of trouble? Can all your mighty efforts keep you going?
36:20  Don’t wish for the night to come so you can drag people away from their homes.
36:21  Be careful not to do what is evil. You seem to like evil better than suffering!
36:22  “God is honored because he is so powerful. There is no teacher equal to him.
36:23  Who has told him what he can do? Who has said to him, ‘You have done what is wrong’?
36:24  Remember to thank him for what he’s done. People have praised him with their songs.
36:25  Every human being has seen his work. People can see it from far away.
36:26  How great God is! We’ll never completely understand him. We’ll never find out how long he has lived.
36:27  “He makes mist rise from the water. Then it falls as rain into the streams.
36:28  The clouds pour down their moisture. Rain showers fall on people everywhere.
36:29  Who can understand how God spreads out the clouds? Who can explain how he thunders from his home in heaven?
36:30  See how he scatters his lightning around him! He lights up the deepest parts of the ocean.
36:31  The rain he sends makes things grow for the nations. He provides them with plenty of food.
36:32  He holds lightning bolts in his hands. He commands them to strike their marks.
36:33  His thunder announces that a storm is coming. Even the cattle let us know it’s approaching.