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Job 33
Living Bible
Job 33
Living Bible
33 “Please listen, Job, to what I have to say. 2 I have begun to speak; now let me continue. 3 I will speak the truth with all sincerity. 4 For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 5 Don’t hesitate to answer me if you can.
6 “Look, I am the one you were wishing for, someone to stand between you and God and to be both his representative and yours. 7 You need not be frightened of me. I am not some person of renown to make you nervous and afraid. I, too, am made of common clay.
8 “You have said it in my hearing, yes, you’ve said it again and again— 9 ‘I am pure, I am innocent; I have not sinned.’ 10 You say God is using a fine-tooth comb to try to find a single fault, and so to count you as his enemy. 11 ‘And he puts my feet in the stocks,’ you say, ‘and watches every move I make.’
12 “All right, here is my reply: In this very thing, you have sinned by speaking of God that way. For God is greater than man. 13 Why should you fight against him just because he does not give account to you of what he does?
14 “For God speaks again and again, 15 in dreams, in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on men as they lie on their beds. 16 He opens their ears in times like that and gives them wisdom and instruction, 17-18 causing them to change their minds, and keeping them from pride, and warning them of the penalties of sin, and keeping them from falling into some trap.
19 “Or God sends sickness and pain, even though no bone is broken, 20 so that a man loses all taste and appetite for food and doesn’t care for even the daintiest dessert. 21 He becomes thin, mere skin and bones, 22 and draws near to death.
23-24 “But if a messenger from heaven is there to intercede for him as a friend, to show him what is right, then God pities him and says,[a] ‘Set him free. Do not make him die, for I have found a substitute.’ 25 Then his body will become as healthy as a child’s, firm and youthful again. 26 And when he prays to God, God will hear and answer and receive him with joy, and return him to his duties. 27 And he will declare to his friends, ‘I sinned, but God let me go. 28 He did not let me die. I will go on living in the realm of light.’
29 “Yes, God often does these things for man— 30 brings back his soul from the pit, so that he may live in the light of the living. 31 Mark this well, O Job. Listen to me, and let me say more. 32 But if you have anything to say at this point, go ahead. I want to hear it, for I am anxious to justify you. 33 But if not, then listen to me. Keep silence and I will teach you wisdom!”
Footnotes
- Job 33:23 then God pities him and says, or “and if the Angel says.”
Job 33
New International Version
Job 33
New International Version
33 “But now, Job, listen(A) to my words;
pay attention to everything I say.(B)
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;(C)
my lips sincerely speak what I know.(D)
4 The Spirit(E) of God has made me;(F)
the breath of the Almighty(G) gives me life.(H)
5 Answer me(I) then, if you can;
stand up(J) and argue your case before me.(K)
6 I am the same as you in God’s sight;(L)
I too am a piece of clay.(M)
7 No fear of me should alarm you,
nor should my hand be heavy on you.(N)
8 “But you have said in my hearing—
I heard the very words—
9 ‘I am pure,(O) I have done no wrong;(P)
I am clean and free from sin.(Q)
10 Yet God has found fault with me;
he considers me his enemy.(R)
11 He fastens my feet in shackles;(S)
he keeps close watch on all my paths.’(T)
12 “But I tell you, in this you are not right,
for God is greater than any mortal.(U)
13 Why do you complain to him(V)
that he responds to no one’s words[a]?(W)
14 For God does speak(X)—now one way, now another(Y)—
though no one perceives it.(Z)
15 In a dream,(AA) in a vision(AB) of the night,(AC)
when deep sleep(AD) falls on people
as they slumber in their beds,
16 he may speak(AE) in their ears
and terrify them(AF) with warnings,(AG)
17 to turn them from wrongdoing
and keep them from pride,(AH)
18 to preserve them from the pit,(AI)
their lives from perishing by the sword.[b](AJ)
19 “Or someone may be chastened(AK) on a bed of pain(AL)
with constant distress in their bones,(AM)
20 so that their body finds food(AN) repulsive
and their soul loathes the choicest meal.(AO)
21 Their flesh wastes away to nothing,
and their bones,(AP) once hidden, now stick out.(AQ)
22 They draw near to the pit,(AR)
and their life to the messengers of death.[c](AS)
23 Yet if there is an angel at their side,
a messenger,(AT) one out of a thousand,
sent to tell them how to be upright,(AU)
24 and he is gracious to that person and says to God,
‘Spare them from going down to the pit;(AV)
I have found a ransom for them(AW)—
25 let their flesh be renewed(AX) like a child’s;
let them be restored as in the days of their youth’(AY)—
26 then that person can pray to God and find favor with him,(AZ)
they will see God’s face and shout for joy;(BA)
he will restore them to full well-being.(BB)
27 And they will go to others and say,
‘I have sinned,(BC) I have perverted what is right,(BD)
but I did not get what I deserved.(BE)
28 God has delivered(BF) me from going down to the pit,(BG)
and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’(BH)
Living Bible (TLB)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.