1 “But now, O Job, hear my speech, and listen to all my words. | TOSK |
2 Behold, I will open my mouth; my address is on the tip of my tongue. | TOSK |
3 My words are from an upright heart, and my lips speak sincerely what I know. | TOSK |
4 The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. | TOSK |
5 Refute me if you can; prepare your case and confront me. | TOSK |
6 I am just like you before God; I was also formed from clay. | TOSK |
7 Surely no fear of me should terrify you; nor will my hand be heavy upon you. | TOSK |
8 Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard these very words: | TOSK |
9 ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, with no iniquity in me. | TOSK |
10 Yet God finds occasions against me; He counts me as His enemy. | TOSK |
11 He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches over all my paths.’ | TOSK |
12 Behold, you are not right in this matter. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. | TOSK |
13 Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks? | TOSK | TOSK |
14 For God speaks in one way and in another, yet no one notices. | TOSK |
15 In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds, | TOSK |
16 He opens their ears and terrifies them with warnings | TOSK |
17 to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, | TOSK |
18 to preserve his soul from the Pit and his life from perishing by the sword. | TOSK |
19 A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones, | TOSK |
20 so that he detests his bread, and his soul loathes his favorite food. | TOSK |
21 His flesh wastes away from sight, and his hidden bones protrude. | TOSK |
22 He draws near to the Pit, and his life to the messengers of death. | TOSK |
23 Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, | TOSK |
24 to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom,’ | TOSK |
25 then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth. | TOSK |
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. | TOSK |
27 Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved. | TOSK |
28 He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will live to see the light.’ | TOSK |
29 Behold, all these things God does to a man, two or even three times, | TOSK |
30 to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life. | TOSK |
31 Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. | TOSK |
32 But if you have something to say, answer me; speak up, for I would like to vindicate you. | TOSK |
33 But if not, then listen to me; be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.” | TOSK |