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.