Job 33

33“But now, Job, listen^r to my words;

pay attention to everything I say.^s

²I am about to open my mouth;

my words are on the tip of my tongue.

³My words come from an upright heart;^t

my lips sincerely speak what I know.^u

⁴The Spirit^v of God has made me;^w

the breath of the Almighty^x gives me life.^y

⁵Answer me^z then, if you can;

stand up^a and argue your case before me.^b

⁶I am the same as you in God’s sight;^c

I too am a piece of clay.^d

⁷No fear of me should alarm you,

nor should my hand be heavy on you.^e

⁸“But you have said in my hearing—

I heard the very words—

⁹‘I am pure,^f I have done no wrong;^g

I am clean and free from sin.^h

¹⁰Yet God has found fault with me;

he considers me his enemy.ⁱ

¹¹He fastens my feet in shackles;^j

he keeps close watch on all my paths.’^k

¹²“But I tell you, in this you are not right,

for God is greater than any mortal.^l

¹³Why do you complain to him^m

that he responds to no one’s words^a?ⁿ

¹⁴For God does speak^o—now one way, now another^p—

though no one perceives it.^q

¹⁵In a dream,^r in a vision^s of the night,^t

when deep sleep^u falls on people

as they slumber in their beds,

¹⁶he may speak^v in their ears

and terrify them^w with warnings,^x

¹⁷to turn them from wrongdoing

and keep them from pride,^y

¹⁸to preserve them from the pit,^z

their lives from perishing by the sword.^ba

¹⁹“Or someone may be chastened^b on a bed of pain^c

with constant distress in their bones,^d

²⁰so that their body finds food^e repulsive

and their soul loathes the choicest meal.^f

²¹Their flesh wastes away to nothing,

and their bones,^g once hidden, now stick out.^h

²²They draw near to the pit,ⁱ

and their life to the messengers of death.^cj

²³Yet if there is an angel at their side,

a messenger,^k one out of a thousand,

sent to tell them how to be upright,^l

²⁴and he is gracious to that person and says to God,

‘Spare them from going down to the pit;^m

I have found a ransom for themⁿ—

²⁵let their flesh be renewed^o like a child’s;

let them be restored as in the days of their youth’^p—

²⁶then that person can pray to God and find favor with him,^q

they will see God’s face and shout for joy;^r

he will restore them to full well-being.^s

²⁷And they will go to others and say,

‘I have sinned,^t I have perverted what is right,^u

but I did not get what I deserved.^v

²⁸God has delivered^w me from going down to the pit,^x

and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’^y

²⁹“God does all these things to a person^z—

twice, even three times^a—

³⁰to turn them back^b from the pit,^c

that the light of life^d may shine on them.^e

³¹“Pay attention, Job, and listen^f to me;^g

be silent,^h and I will speak.

³²If you have anything to say, answer me;ⁱ

speak up, for I want to vindicate you.^j

³³But if not, then listen to me;^k

be silent,^l and I will teach you wisdom.^m”