Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 Be patient and listen a little longer to what I am saying on God's behalf.
1
Elihu also 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 get my knowledge from afar, And will 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 doesn't despise anyone. 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 doesn't preserve the life of the wicked, But gives to 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 doesn't withdraw his eyes from the righteous, But with kings on the throne, He sets them forever, and they are exalted.
8 But if people are bound in chains, suffering for what they have done,
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If they are bound in fetters, And are taken in the cords of afflictions,
9 God shows them their sins and their pride.
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Then he shows them their work, And their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly.
10 He makes them listen to his warning to turn away from evil.
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He also 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 listen and serve him, They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures.
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 don't listen, they shall perish by the sword; They shall 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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"But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They don't 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. Their life perishes among the unclean.
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 in oppression.
16 God brought you out of trouble, and let you enjoy security; your table was piled high with food.
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Yes, he would have allured you out of distress, Into a broad place, where there is no restriction. That which is set on your table would be full of fatness.
17 But now you are being punished as you deserve.
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"But you are full of the judgment of the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold of you.
18 Be careful not to let bribes deceive you, or riches lead you astray.
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Don't let riches entice you to wrath, Neither let the great size of a bribe 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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Would your wealth sustain you in distress, Or all the might of your strength?
20 Don't wish for night to come, the time when nations will perish.
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Don't desire the night, When people 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, don't regard 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 his way for him? Or who can say, 'You have committed unrighteousness?'
24 He has always been praised for what he does; you also must praise him.
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"Remember that you magnify his work, Whereof 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 thereon. Man sees it afar off.
26 We cannot fully know his greatness or count the number of his years.
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Behold, God is great, and we don't know him. 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, Which distill in rain from his vapor,
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 on 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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Yes, can any understand the spreading of the clouds, And 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 spreads his light around him. He covers the bottom 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 the people. 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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The noise of it tells about him, And the cattle also concerning the storm that comes up.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.