Job 33
1 “But now, Job, listen carefully to all that I am going to say [DOU].
Now listen to me, Job. Pay attention to everything I have to say.
2 I am ready to tell you [MTY, DOU] [what I think].
Look, I'm about to speak; my mouth is ready to talk.
3 I know that I am speaking honestly and that I am speaking [MTY] sincerely.
My words come from my upright heart; my lips speak sincerely of what I know.
4 Almighty God has created me [as well as you], and his breath has caused me to live.
The spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 So, answer [what] I [say] if you can; think carefully [about how you will reply to me].
Answer me, if you can. Stand in front of me and prepare to defend yourself.
6 “God considers that you, and I are both [equal]; he formed both of us from clay.
Look, before God we are both the same. I was also made from a piece of clay.
7 So you do not need to be afraid of me; I will not crush/oppress you [by what I say] [MTY].
See here, you don't need to be frightened of me. I won't be too hard on you.
8 I have heard you [DOU] speaking, and this is what you have said:
You spoke in my hearing and I have listened to everything you had to say.
9 ‘I am innocent; I have not committed any sins; I am pure; I have not done things that are wrong.
You say, ‘I'm clean, I've done nothing wrong; I'm pure, I have not sinned.
10 But God finds reasons to accuse me, and he considers that I am his enemy.
See how God finds fault with me and treats me as his enemy.
11 [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]
He puts my feet in the stocks and watches everything I do.’
12 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.
But look, you are wrong—let me explain. God is greater than any human being.
13 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]
Why are you fighting against him, complaining that God isn't answering your questions?
14 God does speak [to us] in various ways, but we do not pay any attention to what he says.
God speaks over and over again, but people don't notice.
15 [Sometimes he speaks to us] at night in dreams and visions, when we are on our beds, asleep [DOU].
Through dreams and visions in the night, when people fall into deep sleep, resting on their beds,
16 He reveals things [MTY] to us and terrifies us by the things he warns us about.
God speaks to them with solemn warnings
17 He tell us those things in order that we stop doing [evil] things and to prevent us from becoming proud.
to turn them away from doing wrong and to stop them from becoming proud.
18 He does not want us to be destroyed [MTY]; he wants to prevent us from dying [MTY] [while we are still young].
He saves them from the grave and spares them from violent death.
19 God also [sometimes] corrects us by forcing us to lie on our beds suffering much pain and with fever/aching in our bones.
People are also disciplined on a bed of pain with constant aching in their bones.
20 The result is that we do not desire any food, not even very special food.
They have no desire to eat; they do not even want their favorite dishes.
21 Our bodies become very thin, with the result that we look like skeletons [HYP], and our bones stick out.
Their flesh wastes away to nothing; all that's left is skin and bones.
22 [We know that] we will soon die and go to the place where dead people are.
They are close to death; their lives approaching the executioner.
23 “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].
But if an angel appears, a mediator, one of God's thousands of angels, to tell someone the right way for them,
24 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!
he will be gracious to them. He will say, ‘Save them from going down into the grave, for I have found a way to free them.’
25 Allow his body to be strong again; allow him to be strong like he was when he was a youth!’
Then their bodies will be renewed as if they were young again; they will be as strong as when they were in their prime.
26 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].
They will pray to God, and he will accept them; they come into God's presence with joy, and he will set things right for them.
27 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.
They sing, and tell others, ‘I sinned, I distorted what is right, but it did not do me any good.
28 He has saved me from dying and going to the place where dead people are, and I will continue to enjoy being alive.’
He saved me from going down into the grave and I will live in the light.’
29 God does all these things for us many times;
Look, God does this time and again for people;
30 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].
he saves them from the grave so they might see the light of life.
31 So Job, listen to me; do not say anything more; just allow me to speak.
Pay attention Job, and listen to me! Be quiet—let me speak!
32 [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).
But if you have anything to say, then speak up.
33 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.”
If not, listen to me. Keep quiet and I will teach you wisdom.”
