Job33

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; stand up and argue your case before me.

⁶I am the same as you in God’s sight; I too am a piece of clay.

⁷No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy on you.

⁸“But you have said in my hearing— I heard the very words—

⁹‘I am pure, I have done no wrong; I am clean and free from sin.

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 any mortal.

¹³Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one’s words?

¹⁴For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it.

¹⁵In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds,

¹⁶he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings,

¹⁷to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride,

¹⁸to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.

¹⁹“Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in their bones,

²⁰so that their body finds food repulsive and their soul loathes the choicest meal.

²¹Their flesh wastes away to nothing, and their bones, once hidden, now stick out.

²²They draw near to the pit, and their life to the messengers of death.

²³Yet if there is an angel at their side, a messenger, one out of a thousand, sent to tell them how to be upright,

²⁴and he is gracious to that person and says to God, ‘Spare them from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for them—

²⁵let their flesh be renewed like a child’s; let them be restored as in the days of their youth’—

²⁶then that person can pray to God and find favor with him, they will see God’s face and shout for joy; he will restore them to full well-being.

²⁷And they will go to others and say, ‘I have sinned, I have perverted what is right, but I did not get what I deserved.

²⁸God has delivered me from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’

²⁹“God does all these things to a person— twice, even three times—

³⁰to turn them back from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them.

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 to vindicate you.

³³But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”