1“But now, Job, listen to my words;

pay attention to everything I say.

2I am about to open my mouth;

my words are on the tip of my tongue.

3My words come from an upright heart;

my lips sincerely speak what I know.

4The Spirit of God has made me;

the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

5Answer me then, if you can;

prepare yourself and confront me.

6I am just like you before God;

I too have been taken from clay.

7No fear of me should alarm you,

nor should my hand be heavy upon you.

8“But you have said in my hearing—

I heard the very words—

9‘I am pure and without sin;

I am clean and free from guilt.

10Yet God has found fault with me;

he considers me his enemy.

11He fastens my feet in shackles;

he keeps close watch on all my paths.’

12“But I tell you, in this you are not right,

for God is greater than man.

13Why do you complain to him

that he answers none of man’s words^a?

14For God does speak—now one way, now another—

though man may not perceive it.

15In a dream, in a vision of the night,

when deep sleep falls on men

as they slumber in their beds,

16he may speak in their ears

and terrify them with warnings,

17to turn man from wrongdoing

and keep him from pride,

18to preserve his soul from the pit,^b

his life from perishing by the sword.^c

19Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain

with constant distress in his bones,

20so that his very being finds food repulsive

and his soul loathes the choicest meal.

21His flesh wastes away to nothing,

and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.

22His soul draws near to the pit,^d

and his life to the messengers of death.^e

23“Yet if there is an angel on his side

as a mediator, one out of a thousand,

to tell a man what is right for him,

24to be gracious to him and say,

‘Spare him from going down to the pit^f;

I have found a ransom for him’—

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

it is restored as in the days of his youth.

26He prays to God and finds favor with him,

he sees God’s face and shouts for joy;

he is restored by God to his righteous state.

27Then he comes to men and says,

‘I sinned, and perverted what was right,

but I did not get what I deserved.

28He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit,^g

and I will live to enjoy the light.’

29“God does all these things to a man—

twice, even three times—

30to turn back his soul from the pit,^h

that the light of life may shine on him.

31“Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

32If you have anything to say, answer me;

speak up, for I want you to be cleared.

33But if not, then listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”