Good News Translation GNT
Revised Standard Version RSV
1 Be patient and listen a little longer to what I am saying on God's behalf.
1
And Eli'hu continued, and said:
3 My knowledge is wide; I will use what I know to show that God, my Creator, is just.
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I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
4 Nothing I say to you is false; you see before you a truly wise man.
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For truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.
5 How strong God is! He despises no one; there is nothing he doesn't understand.
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"Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength of understanding.
6 He does not let sinners live on, and he always treats the poor with justice.
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He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives the afflicted their right.
7 He protects those who are righteous; he allows them to rule like kings and lets them be honored forever.
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He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings upon the throne he sets them for ever, and they are exalted.
8 But if people are bound in chains, suffering for what they have done,
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And if they are bound in fetters and caught in the cords of affliction,
9 God shows them their sins and their pride.
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then he declares to them their work and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.
10 He makes them listen to his warning to turn away from evil.
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He opens their ears to instruction, and commands that they return from iniquity.
11 If they obey God and serve him, they live out their lives in peace and prosperity.
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If they hearken and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness.
12 But if not, they will die in ignorance and cross the stream into the world of the dead.
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But if they do not hearken, they perish by the sword, and die without knowledge.
13 Those who are godless keep on being angry, and even when punished, they don't pray for help.
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"The godless in heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them.
14 They die while they are still young, worn out by a life of disgrace.
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They die in youth, and their life ends in shame.
15 But God teaches people through suffering and uses distress to open their eyes.
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He delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and opens their ear by adversity.
16 God brought you out of trouble, and let you enjoy security; your table was piled high with food.
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He also allured you out of distress into a broad place where there was no cramping, and what was set on your table was full of fatness.
17 But now you are being punished as you deserve.
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"But you are full of the judgment on the wicked; judgment and justice seize you.
18 Be careful not to let bribes deceive you, or riches lead you astray.
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Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing; and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.
19 It will do you no good to cry out for help; all your strength can't help you now.
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Will your cry avail to keep you from distress, or all the force of your strength?
20 Don't wish for night to come, the time when nations will perish.
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Do not long for the night, when peoples are cut off in their place.
21 Be careful not to turn to evil; your suffering was sent to keep you from it.
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Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, for this you have chosen rather than affliction.
22 Remember how great is God's power; he is the greatest teacher of all.
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Behold, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him?
23 No one can tell God what to do or accuse him of doing evil.
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Who has prescribed for him his way, or who can say, 'Thou hast done wrong'?
24 He has always been praised for what he does; you also must praise him.
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"Remember to extol his work, of which men have sung.
25 Everyone has seen what he has done; but we can only watch from a distance.
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All men have looked on it; man beholds it from afar.
26 We cannot fully know his greatness or count the number of his years.
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Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable.
27 It is God who takes water from the earth and turns it into drops of rain.
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For he draws up the drops of water, he distils his mist in rain
28 He lets the rain pour from the clouds in showers for all human beings.
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which the skies pour down, and drop upon man abundantly.
29 No one knows how the clouds move or how the thunder roars through the sky, where God dwells.
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Can any one understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion?
30 He sends lightning through all the sky, but the depths of the sea remain dark.
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Behold, he scatters his lightning about him, and covers the roots of the sea.
31 This is how he feeds the people and provides an abundance of food.
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For by these he judges peoples; he gives food in abundance.
32 He seizes the lightning with his hands and commands it to hit the mark.
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He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.
33 Thunder announces the approaching storm, and the cattle know it is coming.
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Its crashing declares concerning him, who is jealous with anger against iniquity.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.