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Elihu Speaks

Job, Listen to Me!

33 Job, listen to me!
    Pay close attention.
* Everything I will say
    is true and sincere,
just as surely as the Spirit
of God All-Powerful[a]
    gave me the breath of life.
Now line up your arguments
    and prepare to face me.
We each were made from clay,
    and God has no favorites,
so don't be afraid of me
    or what I might do.

I Have Heard You Argue

I have heard you argue
that you are innocent,
    guilty of nothing.
10 You claim that God
    has made you his enemy,
11 (A) that he has bound your feet
    and blocked your path.
12 But, Job, you're wrong—
God is greater
    than any human.
13 So why do you challenge God
    to answer you?[b]
14 God speaks in different ways,
and we don't always
    recognize his voice.
* 15 (B) Sometimes in the night,
he uses terrifying dreams
16     to give us warnings.
17 God does this to make us turn
    from sin and pride
18 and to protect us
from being swept away
    to the world of the dead.

19 Sometimes we are punished
with a serious illness
    and aching joints.
20 Merely the thought
of our favorite food
    makes our stomachs sick,
21 and we become so skinny
    that our bones stick out.
22 We feel death and the grave
    taking us in their grip.

23 One of a thousand angels
then comes to our rescue
    by saying we are innocent.
24 The angel shows kindness,
commanding death to release us,
    because the price was paid.
25 Our health is restored,
we feel young again,
26     and we ask God to accept us.
Then we joyfully worship God,
and we are rewarded
    because we are innocent.
27 When that happens,
    we tell everyone,
“I sinned and did wrong,
    but God forgave me
28 and rescued me from death!
    Now I will see the light.”

29 God gives each of us
    chance after chance
30 to be saved from death
and brought into the light
    that gives life.
31 So, Job, pay attention
    and don't interrupt,
32 though I would gladly listen
to anything you say
    that proves you are right.
33 Otherwise, listen in silence
    to my wisdom.

Footnotes

  1. 33.4 the Spirit of God All-Powerful: Or “God All-Powerful.”
  2. 33.13 answer you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.

33 “But now, Job, listen(A) to my words;
    pay attention to everything I say.(B)
I am about to open my mouth;
    my words are on the tip of my tongue.
My words come from an upright heart;(C)
    my lips sincerely speak what I know.(D)
The Spirit(E) of God has made me;(F)
    the breath of the Almighty(G) gives me life.(H)
Answer me(I) then, if you can;
    stand up(J) and argue your case before me.(K)
I am the same as you in God’s sight;(L)
    I too am a piece of clay.(M)
No fear of me should alarm you,
    nor should my hand be heavy on you.(N)

“But you have said in my hearing—
    I heard the very words—
‘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)

29 “God does all these things to a person(BI)
    twice, even three times(BJ)
30 to turn them back(BK) from the pit,(BL)
    that the light of life(BM) may shine on them.(BN)

31 “Pay attention, Job, and listen(BO) to me;(BP)
    be silent,(BQ) and I will speak.
32 If you have anything to say, answer me;(BR)
    speak up, for I want to vindicate you.(BS)
33 But if not, then listen to me;(BT)
    be silent,(BU) and I will teach you wisdom.(BV)

Footnotes

  1. Job 33:13 Or that he does not answer for any of his actions
  2. Job 33:18 Or from crossing the river
  3. Job 33:22 Or to the place of the dead