Chapter 35

¹ And Elius resumed and said,

² What is this that thou thinkest to be according to right? who art thou that thou hast said, I am righteous before the Lord?¹³ I will answer thee, and thy three friends. ⁴ Look up to the sky and see; and consider the clouds, how high they are above thee. ⁵ If thou hast sinned, what wilt thou do? ⁶ and if too thou hast transgressed much, what canst thou perform? ⁷ And suppose thou art righteous, what wilt thou give him? or what shall he receive of thy hand? ⁸ Thy ungodliness may affect a man who is like to thee; or thy righteousness a son of man. ⁹ They that are ²oppressed of a multitude will be ready to cry out; they will call for help because of the arm of many. ¹⁰ But none said, Where is God that made me, who appoints the night-watches; ¹¹ who makes me to differ from the four-footed beasts of the earth, and from the birds of the sky? ¹² There they shall cry, and none shall hearken, even because of the insolence of wicked men.

¹³ For the Lord desires not to look on ³error, for he is the Almighty One. ¹⁴ He ⁴beholds them that perform lawless deeds, and he will save me: and do thou plead before him, if thou canst praise him, as it is possible even now. ¹⁵ For ⁵he is not now regarding his wrath, nor has he noticed severely any trespass. ¹⁶ Yet Job vainly opens his mouth, in ignorance he ⁶multiplies words.

Chapter 36

¹ And Elius further continued, and said,

² Wait for me yet a little while, that I may

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teach thee: for there is yet speech in me.

³ Having fetched my knowledge from afar, and according to my works, ⁴ I will speak just things truly, and thou shalt not unjustly receive unjust words.

⁵ But know that the Lord will not cast off an innocent man: being mighty in strength of ⁷wisdom, ⁶ he will not by any means ⁸save alive the ungodly: and he will grant the judgment of the poor. ⁷ He will not turn away his eyes from the righteous, but they shall be with kings on the throne: and he will ⁹establish them ¹⁰in triumph, and they shall be exalted. ⁸ But they that are bound in fetters shall be holden in cords of poverty. ⁹ And he shall recount to them their works, and their transgressions, ¹¹for such will act with violence. ¹⁰ But he will hearken to the righteous: and he has said that they shall turn from unrighteousness. ¹¹ If they should hear and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in honour. ¹² But he preserves not the ungodly; because they are not willing to know the Lord, and because when reproved they were disobedient.

¹³ And the hypocrites in heart will array wrath against themselves; they will not cry, because he has bound them. ¹⁴ Therefore let their soul die in youth, and their life be wounded by messengers of death. ¹⁵ Because they afflicted the weak and helpless: and he will vindicate the judgment of the meek. ¹⁶ And he has also enticed thee out of the mouth of the enemy: ¹⁷ there is a deep gulf and a ¹²rushing stream beneath it, and thy table came down full of fatness. Judgment shall not fail from the righteous; ¹⁸ but there shall be wrath upon the ungodly, by reason of the ungodliness of the bribes which they received for iniquities.

¹⁹ Let not thy mind willingly turn thee aside from the petition of the feeble that are in distress. ²⁰ And draw not forth all the mighty men by night, so that the people should go up instead of them. ²¹ But take heed lest thou do that which is wrong: for of this thou has made choice because of poverty.

²² Behold, the Mighty One shall prevail by his strength: for who is powerful as he is? ²³ And who is he that examines his works? or who can say, he has wrought injustice? ²⁴ Remember that his works are great beyond those which men have ¹³attempted. ²⁵ Every man has seen in himself, how many mortals are wounded. ²⁶ Behold, the Mighty One is ¹⁴great, and we shall not know him: the number of his years is even infinite. ²⁷ And the drops of rain are numbered by him, and shall be poured out in rain to form a cloud. ²⁸ The ¹⁵ancient heavens shall flow, and the clouds overshadow innumerable mortals: he has fixed a time to cattle, and they know the order of rest. Yet by all these things thy understanding is not astonished, neither is thy mind ¹⁶disturbed in thy body. ²⁹ And though one should understand the ¹⁷outspreadings of the clouds, or the measure of his tabernacle; ³⁰ behold he will stretch his ¹⁸bow against him, and he covers the bottom of the sea. ³¹ For by them he will judge the nations: he will give food to him that has strength. ³² He has hidden the light in his hands, and given charge

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concerning it to the interposing cloud. ³³ The Lord will declare concerning this to his friend: but there is a portion also for unrighteousness.