New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 Elihu continued:
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Elihu added:
2 "Listen to me a little longer, and I will show you that there is more to be said for God.
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"Bear with me a little, and I will show you that there is more to say on God's behalf.
3 What I know comes from far away. I will show that my Maker is right.
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I may search far and wide for my arguments, but I will ascribe righteousness to God my maker.
4 You can be sure that my words are not false; one who really knows is with you.
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For the fact is that my words are true; you have with you a man whose views are pure.
5 "God is powerful, but he does not hate people; he is powerful and sure of what he wants to do.
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"Look, God is powerful and despises no one, powerful in his strength of understanding.
6 He will not keep evil people alive, but he gives the poor their rights.
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He does not preserve the lives of the wicked, but he gives justice to the poor.
7 He always watches over those who do right; he sets them on thrones with kings and they are honored forever.
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He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous; but when he sets kings on their throne forever, they may become proud;
8 If people are bound in chains, or if trouble, like ropes, ties them up,
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if, then, they are bound in chains, held in oppressive cords,
9 God tells them what they have done, that they have sinned in their pride.
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he shows them the results of their doings, the crimes caused by their pride.
10 God makes them listen to his warning and commands them to change from doing evil.
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He sounds a warning in their ears and orders them to repent of their evil.
11 If they obey and serve him, the rest of their lives will be successful, and the rest of their years will be happy.
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"If they pay attention and obey him, they spend their days in prosperity; their years pass pleasantly.
12 But if they do not listen, they will die by the sword, and they will die without knowing why.
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But if they don't pay attention, they perish by the sword and die without learning their lesson.
13 "Those who have wicked hearts hold on to anger. Even when God punishes them, they do not cry for help.
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The godless in heart cherish their anger, not crying for help when he binds them.
14 They die while they are still young, and their lives end in disgrace.
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Their soul perishes in their youth, and their life becomes depraved.
15 But God saves those who suffer through their suffering; he gets them to listen through their pain.
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"God, with his affliction, delivers the afflicted; and he gets their attention by pressing on them.
16 "God is gently calling you from the jaws of trouble to an open place of freedom where he has set your table full of the best food.
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Indeed [Iyov], he is drawing you away from distress to an untroubled open place, with rich food on your table.
17 But now you are being punished like the wicked; you are getting justice.
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But the judgment on the wicked applies fully to you, judgment and condemnation take hold [of them].
18 Be careful! Don't be led away from God by riches; don't let much money turn you away.
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For beware of wrath when abundance entices you; don't let a big bribe turn you aside.
19 Neither your wealth nor all your great strength will keep you out of trouble.
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Will your great wealth help you? or all your efforts, no matter how strong?
20 Don't wish for the night when people are taken from their homes.
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Don't desire the night, when people suddenly die.
21 Be careful not to turn to evil, which you seem to want more than suffering.
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Be careful; turn away from wrongdoing; for because of this, you have been tested by affliction.
22 "God is great and powerful; no other teacher is like him.
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"Look, God is exalted in his strength; who is a teacher like him?
23 No one has planned his ways for him; no one can say to God, 'You have done wrong.'
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Who ever prescribed his course for him? Who ever said, 'What you are doing is wrong'?
24 Remember to praise his work, about which people have sung.
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Remember, rather, to magnify his work, of which many have sung.
25 Everybody has seen it; people look at it from far off.
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Everyone has seen it, [but] humans see it [only] from a distance.
26 God is so great, greater than we can understand! No one knows how old he is.
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Look, God is great, beyond what we can know; the number of his years is uncountable.
27 "He evaporates the drops of water from the earth and turns them into rain.
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"He makes the droplets of water, which condense into rain from his mist.
28 The rain then pours down from the clouds, and showers fall on people.
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The clouds pour it down upon humankind in abundance.
29 No one understands how God spreads out the clouds or how he sends thunder from where he lives.
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Can anyone fathom the spreading of the clouds, or the crashes that come from his canopy?
30 Watch how God scatters his lightning around him, lighting up the deepest parts of the sea.
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See how he scatters his lightning over it and covers the roots of the sea.
31 This is the way God governs the nations; this is how he gives us enough food.
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By these things he judges the people and also gives food in plenty.
32 God fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its target.
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He gathers the lightning into his hands and commands it to strike the target.
33 His thunder announces the coming storm, and even the cattle know it is near.
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Its crashing announces its presence and apprises the cattle of what is coming.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.