33 But now, Job, listen to my speech.
Pay close attention to all my words.
² Listen, because I have opened my mouth.
See how my tongue shapes words in my mouth.
³ My speech will reveal my upright heart.
My lips express my knowledge plainly.^[a]
4 The spirit^[b] of God made me.
The breath of the Almighty gave me life.

⁵ Refute me if you are able.
Lay out your case before me! Take your stand!
⁶ Look, my mouth belongs to God, just as your mouth does.
Like you I was snipped off from a lump of clay.
⁷ Look, you should not be terrified by how awesome I am.
Pressure from me should not intimidate you.

⁸ However, you said this in my hearing,
and I did hear the sound of these words:
⁹ “I am pure, without any sinful rebellion.
I am clean. I have no guilt.
¹⁰ But look how God finds pretexts to oppose me.
He treats me like his enemy.
¹¹ He has put my feet in stocks.
He patrols all my paths.”

¹² Job, listen to this!
You are not right.
I must refute you!
Certainly, God is greater than a man.
¹³ Why do you bring charges against him,
just because he does not answer all of a man’s questions?
¹⁴ God does speak, sometimes one way, sometimes another,
but people do not pay attention to it.
¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision in the night,
when people are falling into a deep sleep,
while they slumber on their beds,
¹⁶ he whispers a revelation into people’s ears,
and he confirms his warnings to them,
¹⁷ in order to turn a man from his course of action
and to suppress a person’s pride.
¹⁸ He spares his life from the pit.
He spares his life from crossing the stream of death.^[c]
19 Or a person may be disciplined on his bed by pain
and by continual agony in his bones,
²⁰ so that his life makes food disgusting to him,
and he has no appetite for delicious food.
²¹ His flesh wastes away and disappears,
and his bones, which were hidden, now stick out.
²² Then his soul draws near to destruction,
and his life to those who bring death.
²³ If there is a messenger at his side to mediate,
one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
²⁴ if he is gracious to him,
if he says, “Spare him from going down to the pit.
I have found a ransom for him,”
²⁵ then his flesh would become more vigorous than it was in his youth.
He would return to days of youthful vitality.
²⁶ Then he would pray to God,
and God would be pleased with him.
With a joyful cry he would see God’s face,
and God would restore his righteousness to the man.
²⁷ Then the man would turn to people and say,^[d]
“I have sinned, and I have perverted what is right,
yet I was not punished as much as I deserved.
²⁸ God has redeemed my soul from passing into the pit,
and my life will see the light.”

²⁹ Look, God does all these things with a man—
two times, or even three times—
³⁰ to bring back his soul from the pit,
so that light shines on him among the living.
³¹ Pay attention, Job. Listen to me.
Be silent, so that I may speak.
³² If you have anything to say, answer me.
Speak up, for I would be delighted to declare you innocent.
³³ If you have nothing to say, listen to me
Be silent, so I may teach you wisdom.