Job - Chapter 33 | New International Version

  • 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."
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