Study

Elihu Exalts God’s Goodness

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Elihu continued and said:

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“Bear with me a little, and I will show you,

for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.

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I will bring my knowledge from far away,

and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

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For truly my words are not false;

one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

 

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“Surely God is mighty and does not despise any;

he is mighty in strength of understanding.

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He does not keep the wicked alive,

but gives the afflicted their right.

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He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,

but with kings on the throne

he sets them forever, and they are exalted.

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And if they are bound in fetters

and caught in the cords of affliction,

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then he declares to them their work

and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.

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He opens their ears to instruction,

and commands that they return from iniquity.

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If they listen, and serve him,

they complete their days in prosperity,

and their years in pleasantness.

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But if they do not listen, they shall perish by the sword,

and die without knowledge.

 

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“The godless in heart cherish anger;

they do not cry for help when he binds them.

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They die in their youth,

and their life ends in shame.

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He delivers the afflicted by their affliction,

and opens their ear by adversity.

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He also allured you out of distress

into a broad place where there was no constraint,

and what was set on your table was full of fatness.

 

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“But you are obsessed with the case of the wicked;

judgment and justice seize you.

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Beware that wrath does not entice you into scoffing,

and do not let the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.

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Will your cry avail to keep you from distress,

or will all the force of your strength?

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Do not long for the night,

when peoples are cut off in their place.

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Beware! Do not turn to iniquity;

because of that you have been tried by affliction.

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See, God is exalted in his power;

who is a teacher like him?

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Who has prescribed for him his way,

or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?

 

Elihu Proclaims God’s Majesty

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“Remember to extol his work,

of which mortals have sung.

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All people have looked on it;

everyone watches it from far away.

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Surely God is great, and we do not know him;

the number of his years is unsearchable.

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For he draws up the drops of water;

he distills his mist in rain,

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which the skies pour down

and drop upon mortals abundantly.

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Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,

the thunderings of his pavilion?

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See, he scatters his lightning around him

and covers the roots of the sea.

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For by these he governs peoples;

he gives food in abundance.

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He covers his hands with the lightning,

and commands it to strike the mark.

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Its crashing tells about him;

he is jealous with anger against iniquity.