Job - Chapter 33 - New International Version
- "But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say.
- I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue.
- My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know.
- The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
- Answer me then, if you can; stand up and argue your case before me.
- I am the same as you in God's sight; I too am a piece of clay.
- No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy on you.
- "But you have said in my hearing — I heard the very words —
- 'I am pure, I have done no wrong; I am clean and free from sin.
- Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.
- He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.'
- "But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal.
- Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one's words "?
- For God does speak —now one way, now another — though no one perceives it.
- In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds,
- he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings,
- to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride,
- to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword. [^
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- "Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in their bones,
- so that their body finds food repulsive and their soul loathes the choicest meal.
- Their flesh wastes away to nothing, and their bones, once hidden, now stick out.
- They draw near to the pit, and their life to the messengers of death. [^
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- Yet if there is an angel at their side, a messenger, one out of a thousand, sent to tell them how to be upright,
- and 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 —
- let their flesh be renewed like a child's; let them be restored as in the days of their youth' —
- then 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.
- And they will go to others and say, 'I have sinned, I have perverted what is right, but I did not get what I deserved.
- God has delivered me from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.'
- "God does all these things to a person — twice, even three times —
- to turn them back from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them.
- "Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.
- If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want to vindicate you.
- But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."