Job 33
1 “But now, Job, listen carefully to all that I am going to say [DOU].
Hear, therefore, my discourse, I pray thee, O Job! And attend unto all my words!
2 I am ready to tell you [MTY, DOU] [what I think].
Behold, I am opening my mouth; My tongue is now speaking in my palate.
3 I know that I am speaking honestly and that I am speaking [MTY] sincerely.
My words shall be in the uprightness of my heart; My lips shall utter knowledge purely.
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 gave me life.
5 So, answer [what] I [say] if you can; think carefully [about how you will reply to me].
If thou art able, answer me; Set thyself in array against me; stand up!
6 “God considers that you, and I are both [equal]; he formed both of us from clay.
Behold, I, like thee, am a creature of God; I also was formed of clay.
7 So you do not need to be afraid of me; I will not crush/oppress you [by what I say] [MTY].
Behold, my terror cannot dismay thee, Nor can my greatness be heavy upon thee.
8 I have heard you [DOU] speaking, and this is what you have said:
Surely thou hast said in my hearing, I have heard the sound of thy words:
9 ‘I am innocent; I have not committed any sins; I am pure; I have not done things that are wrong.
“I am pure, and without transgression; I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.
10 But God finds reasons to accuse me, and he considers that I am his enemy.
Behold, He seeketh causes of hostility against me; He regardeth 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 putteth my feet in the stocks; He watcheth all my paths.”
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.
Behold, in this thou art not right; I will answer thee; For God is greater than man.
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 dost thou contend with Him? For he giveth no account of any of his doings.
14 God does speak [to us] in various ways, but we do not pay any attention to what he says.
For God speaketh once, Yea, twice, when man regardeth it not.
15 [Sometimes he speaks to us] at night in dreams and visions, when we are on our beds, asleep [DOU].
In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falleth upon men, In slumber upon the bed;
16 He reveals things [MTY] to us and terrifies us by the things he warns us about.
Then openeth he the ears of men, And sealeth up for them admonition;
17 He tell us those things in order that we stop doing [evil] things and to prevent us from becoming proud.
That he may turn man from his purpose, And hide pride from man.
18 He does not want us to be destroyed [MTY]; he wants to prevent us from dying [MTY] [while we are still young].
Thus he saveth him from the pit, Yea, his life from perishing by the sword.
19 God also [sometimes] corrects us by forcing us to lie on our beds suffering much pain and with fever/aching in our bones.
He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, And with a continual agitation of his bones,
20 The result is that we do not desire any food, not even very special food.
So that his mouth abhorreth bread, And his taste the choicest food;
21 Our bodies become very thin, with the result that we look like skeletons [HYP], and our bones stick out.
His flesh is consumed, that it cannot be seen, And his bones, that were invisible, are naked;
22 [We know that] we will soon die and go to the place where dead people are.
Yea, his soul draweth near to the pit, And his life to the destroyers.
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 there be with him a messenger, An interpreter, one of a thousand, Who may show unto man his duty,
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!
Then will God be gracious to him, and say, “Save him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.”
25 Allow his body to be strong again; allow him to be strong like he was when he was a youth!’
His flesh shall became fresher than a child's; He shall return to the days of his youth.
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].
He shall pray to God, and he will be favorable to him, And permit him to see his face with joy, And restore unto man his righteousness.
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.
He shall sing among men, and say, “I sinned; I acted perversely; Yet hath he not requited me for it:
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 hath delivered me from going down to the pit, And my life beholdeth the light.”
29 God does all these things for us many times;
Lo! all these things doeth God Time after time with man,
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].
That he may bring him back from the pit, That he may enjoy the light of the living.
31 So Job, listen to me; do not say anything more; just allow me to speak.
Mark well, O Job! hearken to me! Keep silence, and I will 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).
Yet if thou hast any thing to say, answer me! Speak! for I desire to pronounce thee innocent.
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.”
But if not, do thou listen to me! Keep silence, and I will teach thee wisdom!
