Job
Chapter 33

1

Therefore, O Job, hear my discourse, and hearken to all my words.

2

Behold, now I open my mouth; my tongue and my voice form words.

3

I will state directly what is in my mind, my lips shall utter knowledge sincerely;

4

For the spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty keeps me alive.

5

If you are able, refute me; draw up your arguments and stand forth.

6

Behold I, like yourself, have been taken from the same clay by God.

7

Therefore no fear of me should dismay you, nor should my presence weigh heavily upon you.

8

But you have said in my hearing, as I listened to the sound of your words:

9

"I am clean and without transgression; I am innocent; there is no guilt in me.

10

Yet he invents pretexts against me and reckons me as his enemy.

11

He puts my feet in the stocks; he watches all my ways!"

12

In this you are not just, let me tell you; for God is greater than man.

13

Why, then, do you make complaint against him that he gives no account of his doings?

14

For God does speak, perhaps once, or even twice, though one perceive it not.

15

In a dream, in a vision of the night, (when deep sleep falls upon men) as they slumber in their beds,

16

It is then he opens the ears of men and as a warning to them, terrifies them;

17

By turning man from evil and keeping pride away from him,

18

He withholds his soul from the pit and his life from passing to the grave.

19

Or a man is chastened on his bed by pain and unceasing suffering within his frame,

20

So that to his appetite food becomes repulsive, and his senses reject the choicest nourishment.

21

His flesh is wasted so that it cannot be seen, and his bones, once invisible, appear;

22

His soul draws near to the pit, his life to the place of the dead.

23

¹ If then there be for him an angel, one out of a thousand, a mediator, To show him what is right for him and bring the man back to justice,

24

He will take pity on him and say, "Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found him a ransom."

25

Then his flesh shall become soft as a boy's; he shall be again as in the days of his youth.

26

He shall pray and God will favor him; he shall see God's face with rejoicing.

27

He shall sing before men and say, "I sinned and did wrong, yet he has not punished me accordingly.

28

He delivered my soul from passing to the pit, and I behold the light of life."

29

Lo, all these things God does, twice, or thrice, for a man,

30

Bringing back his soul from the pit to the light, in the land of the living.

31

Be attentive, O Job; listen to me! Be silent and I will speak.

32

If you have aught to say, then answer me. Speak out! I should like to see you justified.

33

If not, then do you listen to me; be silent while I teach you wisdom.

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Footnotes

¹ [23] Angel: one of the thousands who stand between God and man as intermediaries, reminding man of his duties and giving God an account of their fulfillment.

New American Bible Copyright © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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