CHAPTER 36
1 Also Elihu added, and spake these things, (And Elihu added more, and also said these things,)
2 Suffer thou me a little, and I shall show to thee; for yet I have that, that I shall speak for God (or for I still have things to say for God).
3 I shall rehearse my knowing from the beginning; and I shall prove my worker just. (I shall use all my knowledge from far and wide; and I shall prove that my Maker is just, or fair.)
4 For verily my words be without leasing, and by them perfect knowing shall be proved to thee. (For truly my words be without any lying, and by them sound reasoning shall be shown to thee.)
5 God casteth not away mighty men, since he is mighty; (God, who is mighty, despiseth no one, since he is so mighty;)
6 but he saveth not wicked men, and he giveth doom to poor men. (but he saveth not the wicked, and he giveth justice to the poor.)
7 He taketh not away his eyes from a just man; and he setteth kings in their seat [into] without end, and they be raised up there. (He taketh his eyes not away from the righteous; and he putteth kings on their thrones forevermore, and they be raised up there.)
8 And (then) if they be in chains, and be bound with the ropes of poverty,
9 he shall show to them their works, and their great trespasses; for they were violent, either raveners.
10 Also he shall open their ears, that he chastise them; and he shall speak to them, that they turn again from their wickedness. (And he shall open their ears, so that he can chastise them; and he shall speak to them, so that they turn away from their wickedness.)
11 If they hear him, and keep his behests, they shall full-fill their days in good, and their years in glory. (If they hear him, and obey him, they shall fill their days full with good things, and their years with glory.)
12 Soothly if they hear not, they shall pass by sword, and they shall be wasted in folly. (But if they will not listen, or obey, then they shall pass away, or die, by the sword, and they shall be destroyed by foolishness.)
13 Feigners and false men stir (up) the wrath of God; and they shall not cry to God(or but they do not cry out to God), and acknowledge their guilt, when they be bound.
14 The soul of them shall die in (a) tempest; and the life of them among womanish men. (They shall die young; after a life of disgrace.)
15 He shall deliver a poor man from his anguish; and he shall open his ear in tribulation. (He shall rescue the poor from their anguish; and he shall use tribulation to open their eyes.)
16 Therefore he shall save thee from the strait mouth of the broadest tribulation, and not having a foundament under it; and the rest of thy table shall be full of fatness. (And so he hath saved thee out of the strait, or the narrow, and into the broad, where there was no tribulation; and thy table was covered with food.)
17 Thy cause is deemed as the cause of a wicked man; and thou shalt receive thy cause and thy doom. (But now thy case is judged like the case of the wicked; and for that thou shalt receive thy judgement and thy punishment.)
18 Therefore wrath overcome thee not, that thou oppress any man; and the multitude of gifts bow thee not. (And so let not anger overcome thee, so that thou oppress anyone; and do not bow thyself down before a multitude of gifts.)
19 Put down thy greatness without tribulation, and put down all strong men by strength. (Depend not upon thy own greatness, whether thou suffereth tribulation, or not, and depend not upon any strong man for your help in times of trouble.)
20 Delay thou not the night, that peoples go up for them. (Desire thou not the night, when nations shall perish.)
21 Be thou ware, that thou bow not (down) to wickedness; for thou hast begun to follow this wickedness after (thy) wretchedness.
22 Lo! God is high in his strength, and none is like him among the givers of law. (Behold! God’s strength towers over all, and there is no one like him among the law givers, (or the rulers).)
23 Who may seek out the ways of God? either who dare say to him, Thou hast wrought wickedness?
24 Have thou mind (or Remember), that thou knowest not his work, of whom men have sung.
25 All men see God; each man beholdeth afar. (All see God, or what he hath done; but all behold him from afar.)
26 Lo! God is great, over-coming our knowing, (or Behold! God (is) so great, and we shall truly never know how great he is); the number of his years is without number.
27 He taketh (up) the drops of rain; and he poureth out (the) rains at the likeness of floodgates,
28 which come down (out) of the clouds, that cover all things (from) above.
29 If he will stretch forth clouds as his tent, (If he will stretch forth the clouds like his tent,)
30 and lightning with his light from above, he shall cover, yea, the hinges of the sea, (that is, the depths of the sea).
31 For by these things he deemeth peoples, and giveth meat to many deadly men. (For by these things he feedeth the nations, and giveth food to many mortals.)
32 In (his) hands he hideth (the) light; and (then) commandeth it, that it come (out) again.
33 He telleth of it to his friend, that it is his possession; and that he may ascend to it.