Job 33
1 Howbeit, Job, I pray thee, hear my speech, and hearken to all my words.
“But now, Job, listen carefully to all that I am going to say [DOU].
2 Behold now, I have opened my mouth, my tongue hath spoken in my mouth.
I am ready to tell you [MTY, DOU] [what I think].
3 My words shall utter the uprightness of my heart; and that which my lips know they shall speak sincerely.
I know that I am speaking honestly and that I am speaking [MTY] sincerely.
4 The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty given me life.
Almighty God has created me [as well as you], and his breath has caused me to live.
5 If thou canst, answer thou me, set thy words in order before me, stand forth.
So, answer [what] I [say] if you can; think carefully [about how you will reply to me].
6 Behold, I am toward God even as thou art; I also am formed out of the clay.
“God considers that you, and I are both [equal]; he formed both of us from clay.
7 Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my pressure be heavy upon thee.
So you do not need to be afraid of me; I will not crush/oppress you [by what I say] [MTY].
8 Surely thou hast spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words;
I have heard you [DOU] speaking, and this is what you have said:
9 'I am clean, without transgression, I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me;
‘I am innocent; I have not committed any sins; I am pure; I have not done things that are wrong.
10 Behold, He findeth occasions against me, He counteth me for His enemy;
But God finds reasons to accuse me, and he considers that I am his enemy.
11 He putteth my feet in the stocks, He marketh all my paths.'
[It is as though] he has put my feet (in stocks/between wooden blocks to prevent me from walking away), and he watches everything that I do.’ [MTY]
12 Behold, I answer thee: In this thou art not right, that God is too great for man;
But what you have said is wrong, and I will tell you [what you have said that is wrong]. God is much greater than any human.
13 Why hast thou striven against Him? seeing that He will not answer any of his words.
So, (why are you arguing against God, saying ‘He never answers my questions’?/you should not be arguing against God, saying ‘He never answers my questions.’) [RHQ]
14 For God speaketh in one way, yea in two, though man perceiveth it not.
God does speak [to us] in various ways, but we do not pay any attention to what he says.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
[Sometimes he speaks to us] at night in dreams and visions, when we are on our beds, asleep [DOU].
16 Then He openeth the ears of men, and by their chastisement sealeth the decree,
He reveals things [MTY] to us and terrifies us by the things he warns us about.
17 That men may put away their purpose, and that He may hide pride from man;
He tell us those things in order that we stop doing [evil] things and to prevent us from becoming proud.
18 That He may keep back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
He does not want us to be destroyed [MTY]; he wants to prevent us from dying [MTY] [while we are still young].
19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and all his bones grow stiff;
God also [sometimes] corrects us by forcing us to lie on our beds suffering much pain and with fever/aching in our bones.
20 So that his life maketh him to abhor bread, and his soul dainty food.
The result is that we do not desire any food, not even very special food.
21 His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones corrode to unsightliness.
Our bodies become very thin, with the result that we look like skeletons [HYP], and our bones stick out.
22 Yea, his soul draweth near unto the pit, and his life to the destroyers.
[We know that] we will soon die and go to the place where dead people are.
23 If there be for him an angel, an intercessor, one among a thousand, to vouch for a man's uprightness;
“But sometimes an angel [may come to one of us], one of the thousands of angels who come to intervene between us and God, to tell us what are the right things for us [to do].
24 Then He is gracious unto him, and saith: 'Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.'
The angel is kind to us and says to God, ‘Release that person, so that he does not descend to the place where dead people are! Do that because I have found the money to pay so that he can be released!
25 His flesh is tenderer than a child's; he returneth to the days of his youth;
Allow his body to be strong again; allow him to be strong like he was when he was a youth!’
26 He prayeth unto God, and He is favourable unto him; so that he seeth His face with joy; and He restoreth unto man his righteousness.
When that happens, that person will pray to God, and God will accept/answer him; he will (enter God’s presence/worship God) joyfully, and then he will tell others how God saved him [from dying].
27 He cometh before men, and saith: 'I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not.'
He will sing as he tells everyone, ‘I sinned, and I did things that were not right, but God did not punish me in the way that I deserved.
28 So He redeemeth his soul from going into the pit, and his life beholdeth the light.
He has saved me from dying and going to the place where dead people are, and I will continue to enjoy being alive.’
29 Lo, all these things doth God work, twice, yea thrice, with a man,
God does all these things for us many times;
30 To bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of the living.
he keeps us [SYN] from [dying and] going to the place where the dead are, in order that we can continue to enjoy being alive [IDM].
31 Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me; hold thy peace, and I will speak.
So Job, listen to me; do not say anything more; just allow me to speak.
32 If thou hast any thing to say, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify thee.
[After I speak], if you have something more that you want to say to me, say it, because I would like to find a way to declare that you (are innocent/have not done what is wrong).
33 If not, hearken thou unto me; hold thy peace, and I will teach thee wisdom.
But if you have nothing more that you want to say, then just listen to me, and I will teach you how to become wise.”
