“I am young in years,
    and you are old;
that is why I was fearful,
    not daring to tell you what I know.
⁷ I thought, ‘Age should speak;
    advanced years should teach wisdom.’
⁸ But it is the spirit^[b] in a person,
    the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.
⁹ It is not only the old^[c] who are wise,
    not only the aged who understand what is right.

¹⁰ “Therefore I say: Listen to me;
    I too will tell you what I know.
¹¹ I waited while you spoke,
    I listened to your reasoning;
while you were searching for words,
¹²     I gave you my full attention.
But not one of you has proved Job wrong;
    none of you has answered his arguments.
¹³ Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;
    let God, not a man, refute him.’
¹⁴ But Job has not marshaled his words against me,
    and I will not answer him with your arguments.

¹⁵ “They are dismayed and have no more to say;
    words have failed them.
¹⁶ Must I wait, now that they are silent,
    now that they stand there with no reply?
¹⁷ I too will have my say;
    I too will tell what I know.
¹⁸ For I am full of words,
    and the spirit within me compels me;
¹⁹ inside I am like bottled-up wine,
    like new wineskins ready to burst.
²⁰ I must speak and find relief;
    I must open my lips and reply.
²¹ I will show no partiality,
    nor will I flatter anyone;
²² for if I were skilled in flattery,
    my Maker would soon take me away.