Job

¹ “But now, O Job, hear my speech,

and listen to all my words.

² Behold, I will open my mouth;

my address is on the tip of my tongue.

³ My words are from an upright heart,

and my lips speak sincerely what I know.

⁴ The Spirit of God has made me,

and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵ Refute me if you can;

prepare your case and confront me.

⁶ I am just like you before God;

I was also formed from clay.

⁷ Surely no fear of me should terrify you;

nor will my hand be heavy upon you.

⁸ Surely you have spoken in my hearing,

and I have heard these very words:

⁹ ‘I am pure, without transgression;

I am clean, with no iniquity in me.

¹⁰ Yet God finds occasions against me;

He counts me as His enemy.

¹¹ He puts my feet in the stocks;

He watches over all my paths.’

¹² Behold, you are not right in this matter.

I will answer you, for God is greater than man.

¹³ Why do you complain to Him

that He answers nothing a man asks? ^[a]

¹⁴ For God speaks in one way and in another,

yet no one notices.

¹⁵ In a dream,

in a vision in the night,

when deep sleep falls upon men

as they slumber on their beds,

¹⁶ He opens their ears

and terrifies them with warnings

¹⁷ to turn a man from wrongdoing

and keep him from pride,

¹⁸ to preserve his soul from the Pit

and his life from perishing by the sword.

¹⁹ A man is also chastened on his bed

with pain and constant distress in his bones,

²⁰ so that he detests his bread,

and his soul loathes his favorite food.

²¹ His flesh wastes away from sight,

and his hidden bones protrude.

²² He draws near to the Pit,

and his life to the messengers of death.

²³ Yet if there is a messenger on his side,

one mediator in 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 his ransom,’

²⁵ then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s;

he returns to the days of his youth.

²⁶ He prays to God and finds favor;

he sees God’s face and shouts for joy,

and God restores His righteousness

to that man.

²⁷ Then he sings before ^[b] men

with these words:

‘I have sinned and perverted what was right;

yet I did not get what I deserved.

²⁸ He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,

and I will live to see the light.’

²⁹ Behold, all these things God does to a man,

two or even three times,

³⁰ to bring back his soul from the Pit,

that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

³¹ Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

³² But if you have something to say, answer me;

speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.

³³ But if not, then listen to me;

be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”