1 ¶ And Elihu added and said,

2 W ait for me a little, and I will teach thee; for I yet speak on God’s behalf.

3 I will take my knowledge from afar and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

4 F or truly my words are not lies; for I share perfect knowledge with thee.

5 ¶ Behold, God is mighty and does not despise; he is mighty in virtue of heart.

6 H e shall not give life to the wicked; but to the poor he shall give their right.

7 H e shall not withdraw his eyes from the righteous; but with kings he shall place them on the throne for ever, and they shall be exalted.

8 A nd if they were bound in fetters and captive in cords of affliction,

9 t hen he shall show them their work and that their rebellions prevailed.

10 H e opens their ear to instruction and commands that they turn from iniquity.

11 I f they hearken and serve him, they shall spend their days in goodness and their years in delight.

12 B ut if they do not hearken, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.

13 B ut the hypocrites in heart shall irritate him more; they shall not cry out when he binds them.

14 T heir soul shall die in youth, and their life is among the male pagan cult prostitutes.

15 ¶ He shall deliver the poor from his poverty, and in affliction shall open their ears.

16 L ikewise, he would have removed thee out of the mouth of anguish into a broad place where there is no distress and should have set thy table full of fatness.

17 B ut thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked, against the judgment and the justice that sustain everything.

18 T herefore it is to be feared that he take thee away with a stroke, which cannot be avoided even with a great ransom.

19 W ill he esteem thy riches? No, not gold, nor all the forces of strength.

20 D o not desire the night, when he cuts people off in their place.

21 T ake heed, do not regard iniquity, to choose it rather than poverty.

22 B ehold, God is exalted by his power; what teacher is like him?

23 W ho has prescribed his way unto him? Or who shall say unto him, Thou hast wrought iniquity?

24 ¶ Remember to magnify his work, which men behold.

25 E very man may see it; man may behold it afar off.

26 B ehold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.

27 F or he detains the drops of water; when the rain pours down rain out of its vapour,

28 w hich the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly.

29 S hall you understand the spreadings of the clouds or the noise of his tent?

30 B ehold, he spreads his light upon it and covers the roots of the sea.

31 F or by them he judges the peoples; he gives food to the multitude.

32 W ith the clouds he covers the light and commands them to come against the light.

33 T he one gives news of the other; the one acquires wrath against the one that comes.