Job 33
1 And yet, I pray thee, O Job, Hear my speech and [to] all my words give ear.
“But now, Job, listen carefully to all that I am going to say [DOU].
2 Lo, I pray thee, I have opened my mouth, My tongue hath spoken in the palate.
I am ready to tell you [MTY, DOU] [what I think].
3 Of the uprightness of my heart [are] my sayings, And knowledge have my lips clearly spoken.
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 Mighty doth quicken me.
Almighty God has created me [as well as you], and his breath has caused me to live.
5 If thou art able — answer me, Set in array before me — station thyself.
So, answer [what] I [say] if you can; think carefully [about how you will reply to me].
6 Lo, I [am], according to thy word, for God, From the clay I — I also, have been formed.
“God considers that you, and I are both [equal]; he formed both of us from clay.
7 Lo, my terror doth not frighten thee, And my burden on thee is not heavy.
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 said in mine ears, And the sounds of words I hear:
I have heard you [DOU] speaking, and this is what you have said:
9 'Pure [am] I, without transgression, Innocent [am] I, and I have no iniquity.
‘I am innocent; I have not committed any sins; I am pure; I have not done things that are wrong.
10 Lo, occasions against me He doth find, He doth reckon me for an enemy to Him,
But God finds reasons to accuse me, and he considers that I am his enemy.
11 He doth put in the stocks my feet, He doth watch 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 Lo, [in] this thou hast not been righteous, I answer thee, that greater is God than 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 Wherefore against Him hast thou striven, When [for] all His matters He answereth not?
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 once doth God speak, and twice, (He doth not behold it.)
God does speak [to us] in various ways, but we do not pay any attention to what he says.
15 In a dream — a vision of night, In the falling of deep sleep on men, In slumberings on a bed.
[Sometimes he speaks to us] at night in dreams and visions, when we are on our beds, asleep [DOU].
16 Then He uncovereth the ear of men, And for their instruction sealeth:
He reveals things [MTY] to us and terrifies us by the things he warns us about.
17 To turn aside man [from] doing, And pride from man He concealeth.
He tell us those things in order that we stop doing [evil] things and to prevent us from becoming proud.
18 He keepeth back his soul from corruption, And his life from passing away by a dart.
He does not want us to be destroyed [MTY]; he wants to prevent us from dying [MTY] [while we are still young].
19 And he hath been reproved With pain on his bed, And the strife of his bones [is] enduring.
God also [sometimes] corrects us by forcing us to lie on our beds suffering much pain and with fever/aching in our bones.
20 And his life hath nauseated bread, And his soul desirable food.
The result is that we do not desire any food, not even very special food.
21 His flesh is consumed from being seen, And high are his bones, they were not seen!
Our bodies become very thin, with the result that we look like skeletons [HYP], and our bones stick out.
22 And draw near to the pit doth his soul, And his life to those causing death.
[We know that] we will soon die and go to the place where dead people are.
23 If there is by him a messenger, An interpreter — one of a thousand, To declare for man his 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 doth favour him and saith, 'Ransom him from going down to the pit, I have found an atonement.'
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 Fresher [is] his flesh 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 maketh supplication unto God, And He accepteth him. And he seeth His face with shouting, And He returneth to 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 looketh on men, and saith, 'I sinned, And uprightness I have perverted, And it hath not been profitable to me.
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 He hath ransomed my soul From going over into the pit, And my life on the light looketh.'
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 doth God work, Twice — thrice with man,
God does all these things for us many times;
30 To bring back his soul from the pit, To 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 Attend, O Job, hearken to me, Keep silent, and I — I do speak.
So Job, listen to me; do not say anything more; just allow me to speak.
32 If there are words — answer me, Speak, for I have a 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 there are not — hearken thou to me, Keep silent, and I 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.”
