Job 33
1 “But now, Job, listen carefully to all that I am going to say [DOU].
So now, Job, I beg you, hear my speech; listen to all my words.
2 I am ready to tell you [MTY, DOU] [what I think].
See now, I have opened my mouth; my tongue has spoken in my mouth.
3 I know that I am speaking honestly and that I am speaking [MTY] sincerely.
My words come from the uprightness of my heart; my lips speak pure knowledge.
4 Almighty God has created me [as well as you], and his breath has caused me to live.
The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty has given me life.
5 So, answer [what] I [say] if you can; think carefully [about how you will reply to me].
If you can, answer me; set your words in order before me and stand up.
6 “God considers that you, and I are both [equal]; he formed both of us from clay.
See, I am just as you are in God's sight; I also have been formed out of the clay.
7 So you do not need to be afraid of me; I will not crush/oppress you [by what I say] [MTY].
See, terror of me will not make you afraid; neither will my pressure be heavy upon you.
8 I have heard you [DOU] speaking, and this is what you have said:
You have certainly spoken in my hearing; I have heard the sound of your words saying,
9 ‘I am innocent; I have not committed any sins; I am pure; I have not done things that are wrong.
'I am clean and without transgression; I am innocent, and there is no sin in me.
10 But God finds reasons to accuse me, and he considers that I am his enemy.
See, God finds opportunities to attack me; he regards 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 stocks; he watches 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.
See, in this you are not right—I will answer you, 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 do you struggle against him? He does not account for 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 speaks once— yes, twice, though man does not notice it.
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 falls upon men, in slumber on the bed—
16 He reveals things [MTY] to us and terrifies us by the things he warns us about.
then God opens the ears of men, and frightens them with threats,
17 He tell us those things in order that we stop doing [evil] things and to prevent us from becoming proud.
in order to pull man back from his sinful purposes, and keep pride from him.
18 He does not want us to be destroyed [MTY]; he wants to prevent us from dying [MTY] [while we are still young].
God keeps man's life back from the pit, his life from crossing over to 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.
Man is punished also with pain on his bed, with constant agony in his bones,
20 The result is that we do not desire any food, not even very special food.
so that his life abhors food, and his soul abhors delicacies.
21 Our bodies become very thin, with the result that we look like skeletons [HYP], and our bones stick out.
His flesh is consumed away so that it cannot be seen; his bones, once not seen, now stick out.
22 [We know that] we will soon die and go to the place where dead people are.
Indeed, his soul draws close to the pit, his life to those who wish to destroy it.
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 is an angel who can be a mediator for him, a mediator, one from among the thousands of angels, to show him what is right to do,
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!
and if the angel is kind to him and says to God, 'Save this person from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him,'
25 Allow his body to be strong again; allow him to be strong like he was when he was a youth!’
then his flesh will become fresher than a child's; he will return to the days of his youthful strength.
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 will pray to God, and God will be kind to him, so that he sees God's face with joy. God will give the person his triumph.
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.
Then that person will sing in front of other people and say, 'I sinned and perverted that which was right, but my sin was not punished.
28 He has saved me from dying and going to the place where dead people are, and I will continue to enjoy being alive.’
God has rescued my soul from going down into the pit; my life will continue to see light.'
29 God does all these things for us many times;
See, God does all these things with a person, twice, yes, even three times,
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].
to bring his soul back from the pit, so that he may be enlightened with 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 silent 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).
If you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I wish to prove that you are in the right.
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, then listen to me; remain silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
