Job 33

“But now, Job, listen^h to my words;

pay attention to everything I say.ⁱ

I am about to open my mouth;

my words are on the tip of my tongue.

My words come from an upright heart;^j

my lips sincerely speak what I know.^k

The Spirit^l of God has made me;^m

the breath of the Almightyⁿ gives me life.^o

Answer me^p then, if you can;

stand up^q and argue your case before me.^r

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

I too am a piece of clay.^t

No fear of me should alarm you,

nor should my hand be heavy on you.^u

“But you have said in my hearing—

I heard the very words—

‘I am pure,^v I have done no wrong;^w

I am clean and free from sin.^x

Yet God has found fault with me;

he considers me his enemy.^y

He fastens my feet in shackles;^z

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

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

for God is greater than any mortal.^b

Why do you complain to him^c

that he responds to no one’s words?^d

For God does speak^e—now one way, now another^f—

though no one perceives it.^g

In a dream,^h in a visionⁱ of the night,^j

when deep sleep^k falls on people

as they slumber in their beds,

he may speak^l in their ears

and terrify them^m with warnings,ⁿ

to turn them from wrongdoing

and keep them from pride,^o

to preserve them from the pit,^p

their lives from perishing by the sword.^q

“Or they may be chastened^r on a bed of pain^s

with constant distress in their bones,^t

so that their bodies find food^u repulsive

and their souls loathe the choicest meal.^v

Their flesh wastes away to nothing,

and their bones,^w once hidden, now stick out.^x

They draw near to the pit,^y

and their lives to the messengers of death.^z

Yet if there is an angel at their side,

a messenger,^a one out of a thousand,

sent to tell them how to be upright,^b

and he is gracious to them and says to God,

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

I have found a ransom for them^d—

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

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

then they can pray to God and find favor with him,^g

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

he will restore them to full well-being.ⁱ

And they will go to others and say,

‘We have sinned,^j we have perverted what is right,^k

but we did not get what we deserved.^l

God has delivered^m us from going down to the pit,ⁿ

and we shall live to enjoy the light of life.’^o

“God does all these things to people^p—

twice, even three times^q—

to turn them back^r from the pit,^s

that the light of life^t may shine on them.^u

“Pay attention, Job, and listen^v to me;^w

be silent,^x and I will speak.

If you have anything to say, answer me;^y

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

But if not, then listen to me;^a

be silent,^b and I will teach you wisdom.^c”