| | 1 | "But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say. | |
| | 2 | I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue. | |
| | 3 | My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know. | |
| | 4 | The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. | |
| | 5 | Answer me then, if you can; prepare yourself and confront me. | |
| | 6 | I am just like you before God; I too have been taken from clay. | |
| | 7 | No 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. | |
| | 10 | Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy. | |
| | 11 | He 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. | |
| | 13 | Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words? | |
| | 14 | For God does speak--now one way, now another--though man may not perceive it. | |
| | 15 | In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, | |
| | 16 | he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, | |
| | 17 | to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, | |
| | 18 | to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. | |
| | 19 | Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones, | |
| | 20 | so that his very being finds food repulsive and his soul loathes the choicest meal. | |
| | 21 | His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out. | |
| | 22 | His 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, | |
| | 24 | to be gracious to him and say, 'Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him'-- | |
| | 25 | then his flesh is renewed like a child's; it is restored as in the days of his youth. | |
| | 26 | He 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. | |
| | 27 | Then he comes to men and says, 'I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved. | |
| | 28 | He 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-- | |
| | 30 | to 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. | |
| | 32 | If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want you to be cleared. | |
| | 33 | But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom." | |
