Elihu: I’m sincere
1Elihu kept on talking:2Hang in there with me a little longer.
I have something else to say in God’s defense.
3I’ll draw from all my knowledge [1]
To show you that God my Creator is good.
4I’m not going to feed you any lies.
The man standing in front of you is sincere.
What God is really like
5God is powerful and wise.He doesn’t hate anyone.
6He doesn’t let the wicked live long.
And he shows justice to people who need it.
7He never stops looking after the righteous.
But he puts them in the company of kings,
And crowns them with honor.
Trouble means you’ve sinned
8But when people get sickAnd feel imprisoned by the pain,
9He tells them about what they did wrong,
And condemns them for their arrogance.
10He makes sure they get the message,
And he orders them to stop sinning.
11If they do what he says,
They’ll live in peace and prosperity.
12But if they don't listen,
They’ll die without learning their lesson. [2]
God uses pain to save people
13Godless people are too angryTo ask for God’s help when they need it.
14They die young,
Spending time with male prostitutes
Who work at pagan shrines and temples. [3]
15But he saves suffering people
Through the suffering they experience.
The pain wakes them up.
They realize God is punishing them for sin.
16Job, God is leading you away from trouble.
He's taking you to a beautiful place
Where you will have everything you need,
And all the food your table can hold.
17But you are obsessed with your complaint against God,
And your insistence that he give you the justice you want.
18Be careful not to go overboard
and insult God.
And don’t get too cozy with your remaining wealth.
19Will all your complaining
Get you out of this trouble?
Do you have the power
To fix everything yourself?
20Don’t expect good things to happen at night.
Nations die overnight.
21Don’t slip back into sinning.
That’s why you’re feeling the pain now.
You sinned.
God is greater than we can imagine
22God is famous for his power.And is there a wiser teacher?
23You can’t tell God what to do.
And you certainly can’t tell him he’s wrong.
24Don’t forget to thank God.
After all, people sing God’s praises.
25We’ve all seen what God can do.
Go outside and look around.
26
God is greater than we could ever understand.
And he is older than we could ever know.
27He collects moist air in the sky,
And releases it into rain.
28Rain falls from the clouds,
Onto the people below.
We really don’t know clouds at all
29Does anyone understand the dance of the cloudsAnd the thundering applause of the sky?
30His lightning explodes in brilliance
Visible from the deepest parts of the sea.
31That’s how he feeds us,
By sending the rain to grow crops.
Warning of thunder
32He fills his hands with bolts of lightning.Picks his targets and fires.
33A sonic boom of speeding thunder
Delivers a warning that our sin makes God mad.
