Immerse: Poets Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 329
36:11-27
Job
“If they listen and obey God,
they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives.
All their years will be pleasant.
But if they refuse to listen to him,
they will cross over the river of death,
dying from lack of understanding.
For the godless are full of resentment.
Even when he punishes them,
they refuse to cry out to him for help.
They die when they are young,
after wasting their lives in immoral living.
But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer.
For he gets their attention through adversity.
“God is leading you away from danger, Job,
to a place free from distress.
He is setting your table with the best food.
But you are obsessed with whether the godless will be judged.
Don’t worry, judgment and justice will be upheld.
But watch out, or you may be seduced by wealth.
Don’t let yourself be bribed into sin.
Could all your wealth
or all your mighty efforts
keep you from distress?
Do not long for the cover of night,
for that is when people will be destroyed.
Be on guard! Turn back from evil,
for God sent this suffering
to keep you from a life of evil.
“Look, God is all-powerful.
Who is a teacher like him?
No one can tell him what to do,
or say to him, ‘You have done wrong.’
Instead, glorify his mighty works,
singing songs of praise.
Everyone has seen these things,
though only from a distance.
“Look, God is greater than we can understand.
His years cannot be counted.
He draws up the water vapor
and then distills it into rain.
317
