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 36,23 Hiob 36,23
Who gave him a charge over the earth?Or who hath {Or, laid upon him}disposed the whole world?
{According to another reading, If he cause his heart to return unto himself.}If he set his heart upon {Or, man Hebrew: him.}himself,If he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
All flesh shall perish together,And man shall turn again unto dust.
{Or, Only understand}If now thou hast understanding, hear this:Hearken to the voice of my words.
Shall even one that hateth justice govern?And wilt thou condemn him that is righteous and mighty?—
{The Hebrew as pointed reads, Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art vile? Or, to nobles, Ye are wicked?}Him that saith to a king, Thou art vile,Or to nobles, Ye are wicked;
That respecteth not the persons of princes,Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor;For they all are the work of his hands.
In a moment they die, {Or, and at midnight the people &c.}even at midnight;The people are shaken and pass away,And the mighty are taken away without hand.
For his eyes are upon the ways of a man,And he seeth all his goings.
There is no darkness, nor thick gloom,Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
For he needeth not further to consider a man,That he should go before God in judgment.
He breaketh in pieces mighty men {Or, without inquisition}in ways past finding out,And setteth others in their stead.
Therefore he taketh knowledge of their works;And he overturneth them in the night, so that they are {Hebrew: crushed.}destroyed.
He striketh them as wicked men {Hebrew: In the place of beholders.}In the open sight of others;
Because they turned aside from following him,And would not have regard in any of his ways:
{Or, That they might cause…And that he might hear}So that they caused the cry of the poor to come unto him,And he heard the cry of the afflicted.
When he giveth quietness, who then can condemn?And when he hideth his face, who then can behold him?Alike whether it be done unto a nation, or unto a man:
That the godless man reign not,That there be none to ensnare the people.
For hath any said unto God,I have borne chastisement, {Or, though I offend not}I will not offend any more:
That which I see not teach thou me:If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more?
Shall his recompense be as thou wilt, that thou refusest it?For thou must choose, and not I:Therefore speak what thou knowest.
Doth God pervert justice?Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?
Who hath {Or, meted out}directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
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.
With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?
Wilt thou even annul my judgment?Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified?
For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
But if our unrighteousness commendeth the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who visiteth with wrath? (I speak after the manner of men.)
in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will;
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.