1   Then Elihu went on to say:

2   Be patient a little longer, and let me enlighten you;
there is still something more to be said on God's side.
3   I will search far and wide to support my conclusions,
as I defend the justice of my Maker.
4   There are no flaws in my reasoning;
before you stands one whose conclusions are sound.


5   God, ^note I say, repudiates the high and ^note mighty
6   and does not let the wicked prosper,
but allows the just claims of the poor and suffering;
7   he does not deprive the sufferer of his due. ^note
Look at kings on their thrones:
when God gives them sovereign power, they grow arrogant.
8   Next you may see them loaded with fetters,
held fast in captives' chains:
9   he denounces their conduct to them,
showing how insolence and tyranny was their offence;
10   his warnings sound in their ears
and summon them to turn back from their evil courses.
11   If they listen to him, they spend ^note their days in prosperity
and their years in comfort.
12   But, if they do not listen, they die, their lesson unlearnt,
and cross the river of death.

Speeches of Elihu
13   Proud men rage against him
and do not cry to him for help when caught in his toils;
14   so they die in their prime,
like male prostitutes, ^note worn out. ^note


15   Those who suffer he rescues through suffering
and teaches them by the discipline of affliction.


16   Beware, if you are tempted to exchange hardship for comfort, ^note
for unlimited plenty spread before you, ^note and a generous table;
17   if you eat your fill of a rich man's fare
when you are occupied with the business of the law,
18   do not be led astray by lavish gifts of wine
and do not let bribery warp your judgement.
19   Will that wealth of yours, however great, avail you,
or all the resources of your high position?
21    ^note Take care not to turn to mischief;
for that is why you are tried by affliction.


20   Have no fear if in the breathless terrors of the night
you see nations vanish where they stand.
22   God towers in majesty above us;
who wields such sovereign power as he?
23   Who has prescribed his course for him?
Who has said to him, ‘Thou hast done wrong’?
24   Remember then to sing the praises of his work,
as men have always sung them.
25   All men stand back from ^note him;
the race of mortals look on from afar.
26   Consider; God is so great that we cannot know him;
the number of his years is beyond reckoning.
27   He draws up drops of water from the sea ^note
and distils rain from the mist he has made;
28   the rain-clouds pour down in torrents, ^note
they descend in showers on mankind;
31   thus he sustains the nations
and gives them food in plenty.
29   Can any man read the secret of the sailing clouds,
spread like a carpet under ^note his pavilion?
30   See how he unrolls the mist ^note across the waters,
and its streamers ^note cover the sea.

Speeches of Elihu
32    ^note He charges the thunderbolts with flame
and launches them straight ^note at the mark;
33   in his anger he calls up the tempest,
and the thunder is the herald of its coming. ^note

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