Elihu also proceeded, and said,
{Hebrew: Wait for.}Suffer me a little, and I will show thee;
For {Hebrew: there are yet words for God.}I have yet somewhat to say on God's behalf.
I will fetch my knowledge from afar,
And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
For truly my words are not false:
One that is perfect in knowledge is with thee.
Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any:
He is mighty in strength of {Hebrew: heart.}understanding.
He preserveth not the life of the wicked,
But giveth to the afflicted their right.
He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous:
But with kings upon the throne
He setteth them for ever, and they are exalted.
And if they be bound in fetters,
And be taken in the cords of afflictions;
Then he showeth them their work,
And their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly.
He openeth also their ear to instruction,
And commandeth that they return from iniquity.
If they hearken and serve him,
They shall spend their days in prosperity,
And their years in {Or, pleasantness}pleasures.
But if they hearken not, they shall perish by {Or, weapons}the sword,
And they shall die without knowledge.
But they that are godless in heart lay up anger:
They cry not for help when he bindeth them.
{Hebrew: Their soul dieth.}They die in youth,
And their life perisheth {Or, like}among the {Or, sodomites See Deuteronomy 23:17.}unclean.
He delivereth the afflicted {Or, in}by their affliction,
And openeth their ear {Or, by adversity}in oppression.
Yea, he would have allured thee {Hebrew: out of the mouth of.}out of distress
Into a broad place, where there is no straitness;
And that which is set on thy table would be full of fatness.
But thou {Or, hast filled up}art full of the judgment of the wicked:
Judgment and justice take hold on thee.
{Or, Because there is wrath, beware lest thou be led away by the sufficiency}For let not wrath stir thee up against chastisements;
Neither let the greatness of the ransom turn thee aside.
Will thy cry avail, that thou be not in distress,
Or all the forces of thy strength?
Desire not the night,
When peoples {Hebrew: go up.}are cut off in their place.
Take heed, regard not iniquity:
For this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.
Behold, God doeth loftily in his power:
Who is a teacher like unto him?
Who hath enjoined him his way?
Or who can say, Thou hast wrought unrighteousness?
Remember that thou magnify his work,
Whereof men have sung.
All men have looked thereon;
Man beholdeth it afar off.
Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
The number of his years is unsearchable.
For he draweth up the drops of water,
Which distil in rain {Hebrew: belonging to.}from {Or, the vapor thereof}his vapor,
Which the skies pour down
And drop upon man abundantly.
Yea, can any understand the spreadings of the clouds,
The thunderings of his pavilion?
Behold, he spreadeth his light {Or, thereon}around him;
And he {Or, covereth it with the depths of the sea}covereth the bottom of the sea.
For by these he judgeth the peoples;
He giveth food in abundance.
He covereth his hands with the {Hebrew: light.}lightning,
And giveth it a charge {Or, against the assailant}that it strike the mark.
The noise thereof telleth concerning {Or, it}him,
The cattle also concerning {Or, him}the storm that cometh up.
Querverweise zu Hiob 36,3 Hiob 36,3
But where shall wisdom be found?And where is the place of understanding?
Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.
Man knoweth not the price thereof;Neither is it found in the land of the living.
For Job hath said, I am righteous,And God hath taken away my right:
Whence then cometh wisdom?And where is the place of understanding?
Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,And kept close from the birds of the heavens.
{Hebrew: Abaddon.}Destruction and Death say,We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears.
God understandeth the way thereof,And he knoweth the place thereof.
For he looketh to the ends of the earth,And seeth under the whole heaven;
Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding:Far be it from God, that he should do wickedness,And from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
For the work of a man will he render unto him,And cause every man to find according to his ways.
Yea, of a surety, God will not do wickedly,Neither will the Almighty pervert justice.
But there is a spirit in man,And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
The Rock, his work is perfect;For all his ways are justice:A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,Just and right is he.
If thou seek her as silver,And search for her as for hid treasures:
For Jehovah is righteous; He loveth {Or, righteous deeds}righteousness: {Or, His countenance doth behold the upright}The upright shall behold his face.
Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah,And find the knowledge of God.
Jehovah is righteous in all his ways,And gracious in all his works.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, {Greek: Magi. Compare Esther 1:13; Daniel 2:12; Acts 13:6, 8.}Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee; yet would I {Hebrew: speak of judgements.}reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?
{Or, Where is the King of the Jews that is born?}Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to {The Greek word denotes an act of reverence whether paid to a creature (see chapter 4:9; 18:26), or to the Creator (see chapter 4:10)}worship him.
O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, {Greek: more than.}a greater than Solomon is here.
Therefore hath Jehovah watched over the evil, and brought it upon us; for Jehovah our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth, and we have not obeyed his voice.
And he arose and went: and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship;
and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.
And the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
And he said, How can I, except some one shall guide me? And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him.
Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, {Isaiah 53:7 f.}He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;And as a lamb before his shearer is dumb,So he openeth not his mouth:
In his humiliation his judgment was taken away:His generation who shall declare?For his life is taken from the earth.
And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other?
And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, {See marginal note on chapter 5:42.}preached unto him Jesus.
And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? {Some ancient authorities insert, wholly or in part, version 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.}
- - -
And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached the gospel to all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea.
whom God set forth {Or, to be propitiatory}to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God;
But the righteousness which is of faith saith thus, {Deuteronomy 30:12 f.}Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down:)
or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)
But what saith it? {Deuteronomy 30:14}The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach:
for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be {See chapter 2:13 margin.}just, and the {See chapter 2:13 margin.}justifier of him that {Greek: is of faith.}hath faith in Jesus.
But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Every good {Or, giving}gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.
And they sing the song of Moses the {Greek: bondservant.}servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the {Many ancient authorities read nations. Jeremiah 10:7.}ages.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without {Or, doubtfulness Or, partiality}variance, without hypocrisy.