Elihu Adds to the Argument

32 Then Job’s three friends gave up trying to answer Job. They gave up because Job was so sure that he himself was truly innocent. ²But there was a young man there named Elihu son of Barakel. Barakel was a descendant* of a man named Buz. Elihu was from the family of Ram. Elihu became very angry with Job. Why? Because Job was saying that he himself was right. Job was saying that he was more fair than God. ³Elihu was also angry with Job’s three friends. Why? Because Job’s three friends could not answer Job’s questions. They could not prove that Job was wrong. ⁴Elihu was the youngest person there, so he had waited until everyone was finished talking. Then he felt like he could begin to talk. ⁵But then Elihu saw that Job’s three friends had nothing more to say. So he became angry. ⁶So Elihu began to talk. He said: “I am only a young man. And you are old men. That is why I was afraid to tell you what I think. ⁷I thought to myself, ‘Older people should speak first. Older people have lived many years. So they have learned many things.’ ⁸But God’s Spirit makes a person wise. That ‘breath’ from God All-Powerful makes people understand. ⁹Old men are not the only wise people. Old people are not the only people that understand what is right. ¹⁰“So please listen to me! And I will tell you what I think. ¹¹I waited patiently while you men talked. I listened to the answers that you gave to Job. ¹²I listened carefully to the things you said. Not one of you criticized Job. Not one of you answered his arguments. ¹³You three men can’t say that you have found wisdom. God must answer Job’s arguments, not people. ¹⁴Job did not present his arguments to me. So I won’t use the arguments you three men have used. ¹⁵“Job, these men lost the argument. They don’t have anything more to say. They don’t have any more answers. ¹⁶Job, I waited for these men to answer you. But now, they are quiet. They have stopped arguing with you. ¹⁷So now, I will give you my answer. Yes, I will tell you what I think. ¹⁸I have so much to say, that I am about to explode. ¹⁹I am like a bottle of new wine that hasn’t been opened. I am like a new wineskin that is ready to break open. ²⁰So I must speak. Then I will feel better. I must speak and answer Job’s arguments. ²¹I must treat Job the same as I would treat any other person. I will not try to say nice things to him. {I will say what I must say.} ²²I can’t treat one person better another person! If I did that, then God would punish me!

descendant(s) A person’s children and their future families.

33 “Now, Job, listen to me. Listen carefully to the things I say. ²I am ready to speak. ³My heart is honest, so I will speak honest words. I will speak the truth about the things I know. ⁴God’s Spirit made me. My life comes from {God} All-Powerful. ⁵Job, listen to me, and answer me if you can. Get your answers ready, so you can argue with me. ⁶You and I are the same in front of God. God used clay to make both of us. ⁷Job, don’t be afraid of me. I won’t be hard on you. ⁸“But Job, I heard what you said. ⁹You said: ‘I am pure. I am innocent I did nothing wrong. I am not guilty! ¹⁰I did nothing wrong, but God is against me! God treated me like an enemy. ¹¹God put chains on my feet. God watches everything I do.’ ¹²“But Job, you are wrong about this. And I will prove you are wrong. Why? Because God knows more than any person.* ¹³Job, you are arguing with God! You think God should explain everything to you. ¹⁴But maybe God does explain what he does. Maybe God speaks in ways that people don’t understand. ^15–16Maybe God speaks to people in a dream, or in a vision* at night, when they are in a deep sleep. Then they become very afraid when they hear God’s warnings. ¹⁷God warns people to stop them from doing wrong things, and to stop them from becoming proud. ¹⁸God warns people so he can save them from going to the place of death.* God does that to save a person from being destroyed. ¹⁹“Or, a person might hear God’s voice when that person is in bed and suffering from God’s punishment. God is warning that person with pain. That person is in so much pain that all his bones hurt. ²⁰Then that person can’t eat. That person has so much pain that he hates even the best food. ²¹His body wastes away until he becomes very thin and all his bones stick out. ²²That person is near the place of death.* And his life is close to death. ²³“God has thousands of angels. Maybe one of those angels is watching over that person. That angel might speak for that person and tell about the good things he did. ²⁴Maybe that angel will be kind to that person and say {to God}, ‘Save this person from the place of death! I have found a way to pay for his {sin}.’ ²⁵Then that person’s body will become young and strong again. That person will be the same as when he was young. ²⁶That person will pray to God, and God will answer his prayer. That person will shout with joy and worship God. He will live a good life again. ²⁷Then that person will confess to people. He will say, ‘I sinned. I changed good into bad. But God didn’t give me the punishment I deserved! ²⁸God saved my soul from going down to the place of death. Now I can enjoy life again.’ ²⁹“God does all these things again and again for that person. ³⁰Why? To warn that person and to save his soul from the place of death* so that person can enjoy his life. ³¹“Job, pay attention to me. Listen to me. Be quiet and let me talk. ³²But Job, if you want to disagree with me, then go ahead and talk. Tell me your argument, because I want to correct you. ³³But Job, if you have nothing to say, then listen to me. Be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”

God … person Or, “God is much greater than any person.” vision Something like a dream that God used to speak to people. place of death Literally, “the Pit,” the place where people go when they die.