15-18 “In a dream, for instance, a vision at night,
    when men and women are deep in sleep,
    fast asleep in their beds—
God opens their ears
    and impresses them with warnings
To turn them back from something bad they’re planning,
    from some reckless choice,
And keep them from an early grave,
    from the river of no return.

19-22 “Or, God might get their attention through pain,
    by throwing them on a bed of suffering,
So they can’t stand the sight of food,
    have no appetite for their favorite treats.
They lose weight, wasting away to nothing,
    reduced to a bag of bones.
They hang on the cliff-edge of death,
    knowing the next breath may be their last.

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17 to turn them from wrongdoing
    and keep them from pride,(A)
18 to preserve them from the pit,(B)
    their lives from perishing by the sword.[a](C)

19 “Or someone may be chastened(D) on a bed of pain(E)
    with constant distress in their bones,(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 33:18 Or from crossing the river