The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Book of Job
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Chapter 36
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And still Eliu would have his say:
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Bear with me a little while I declare my thought to thee; I have more to say yet on God’s behalf.
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From a deep source I will draw my reasons, proving him, my Maker, to be just;
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here is no delusive eloquence, the full truth shall be made known to thee.
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He, the all-powerful, does not grudge men power;
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it is only to the wicked he denies his aid; the friendless shall have redress.
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Never from the just is his favour withdrawn; a royal throne is theirs for ever, so high he exalts them.
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If he should leave them in chains, caught in the toils of sore need,
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it is but to apprise them of their own ill deeds, their own tyrannous deeds;
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he will speak home to them for their correction, warn them to turn back from their guilty ways.
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Hear they and heed, they shall live long in ease and renown;
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if hear they will not, it is the sword’s point for them, to their last gasp fools still.
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It is the cunning, the false-hearted, that are God’s sworn enemies; from them no cry comes when the chains close about them;
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the storm sweeps them away, forgotten in death as the temple minions are forgotten;
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it is the friendless he rescues in their need, speaks home to them through the afflictions they endure.
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From the pit’s mouth, where the ground seems lost under thy feet, he will bring thee out into full freedom; thou shalt take thy ease at a table loaded with dainties.

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Is sentence passed on thee such as rebels undergo? Thou shalt have justice yet, and a true award.
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Never let the thought that God is angry lure thee into tyranny and corruption;
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lay aside thy greatness, forbear to oppress, away with the body-guard which attends thee;
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put an end to the dark time when nations must march under their orders.
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Do not yield to the rebellious mood thou hast cherished since affliction came upon thee.

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God, that is so great and powerful, man’s sovereign teacher,
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how should anyone fathom his designs, or charge him with injustice?
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Bethink thee, how high beyond thy thought are those creatures of his which men praise;
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how mortals see, but see, like mortals, from afar.
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Truly there is no measuring God’s greatness, no reckoning his length of days.
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He hoards up the rain-drops, or showers them down in full flood
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from the cloud-fountains that curtain us overhead.
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With those clouds, when it is his pleasure, he spreads his pavilion,
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flashes his lightning on high, brings darkness on the depths of the sea.
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Has he not a whole world to rule, a whole race of mortals to supply with food?
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Now he hides the light away with the shadow of his hand, now he bids it shine out again,
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as if to shew a friend at his side that he is the owner of it, that he can reach its high fastness when he will.