Job 33 / 42
- 1"But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say.
- 2I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue.
- 3My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know.
- 4The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
- 5Answer me then, if you can; prepare yourself and confront me.
- 6I am just like you before God; I too have been taken from clay.
- 7No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy upon you.
- 8"But you have said in my hearing- I heard the very words-
- 9'I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt.
- 10Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.
- 11He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.'
- 12"But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than man.
- 13Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words ?
- 14For God does speak-now one way, now another- though man may not perceive it.
- 15In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds,
- 16he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings,
- 17to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,
- 18to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.
- 19Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones,
- 20so that his very being finds food repulsive and his soul loathes the choicest meal.
- 21His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.
- 22His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
- 23"Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
- 24to be gracious to him and say, 'Spare him from going down to the pit ; I have found a ransom for him'-
- 25then his flesh is renewed like a child's; it is restored as in the days of his youth.
- 26He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state.
- 27Then he comes to men and says, 'I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved.
- 28He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.'
- 29"God does all these things to a man- twice, even three times-
- 30to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him.
- 31"Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.
- 32If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want you to be cleared.
- 33But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."