33 Elihu: So now, Job, listen closely to my words;
        lend an ear to my speeches.
²     Wait for it! I am about ready to part my lips;
        even now, my tongue begins to stir within my mouth.
³     My words emerge from a heart of integrity;
        my lips express their knowledge with sincerity.
⁴     God’s Spirit has fashioned me
        and the breath of the Highest One^[a] imparts life to me.
⁵     So refute me if you can;
        go ahead and make your preparations and assume your position.
⁶     But remember I am just like you; we are both God’s vessels,
        both pinched from the clay and formed by Him.
⁷     Look, there is no reason for you to be afraid of me;
        my hand will not feel all that heavy on you.

⁸     Job, now you have said—and I heard it—
        I heard the words sounded out:
⁹     “I am pure, without sin;
        innocent indeed, and there is no wrongdoing within me!
¹⁰     But oh! God has come up with reasons to accuse me;
        now He considers me His enemy.
¹¹     He locks my feet in the shackles;
        He watches all my paths, dogs my every step.”
¹²     But listen! You are wrong in all this
        because God is greater than a mere man.

¹³     Why do you argue with Him,
        complaining that He refuses to account for all of His actions?
¹⁴     For God does speak in one way and even another way—
        yet no one may be able to perceive what He says.
¹⁵     One kind of answer God gives
        comes in the form of a dream—in a night-vision—
    When deep slumber comes to people
        who have lain down to sleep in their beds.
¹⁶     Yes, this is often when He opens the ears of humanity,
        and seals their life-corrections in the terrors of the night
¹⁷     So that He can turn one away from his evil deeds
        and put down the arrogance of the proud.
¹⁸     He does all of this so that He might hold back one soul from the pit
        and protect one life from passing over to the land of death.^[b]

¹⁹     Or another kind of answer God gives comes thus:
        one may be corrected through a bed of pain;
        his bones may hold him in an unceasing trial,
²⁰     In which his food becomes repulsive,
        and he doesn’t hunger for even his favorite meals.
²¹     His body wastes away almost to nothing,
        and bones, once hidden, stick out gruesomely.
²²     Thus he is sobered as his soul approaches the rim of the pit,
        as his life hears the whispers of the coming messengers of death.

²³     If there is a heavenly messenger at one’s side, a mediator,
        even just one out of the thousand in his regime of God’s messengers,
        to proclaim what is right for that person according to God,
²⁴     And to be gracious to him and to say,
        “Spare this one from descending into the pit;
        I have found a ransom that will save his life!
²⁵     Then his skin will be renewed, as smooth and fresh as a child’s,
        and he will be restored to the vim and vigor of his youth.”
²⁶     He will make his appeal to God, and God will grant acceptance;
        he will see God’s face and shout with joy,
        knowing God has restored his right standing.
²⁷     Then he comes to his fellow humans and sings out,
        “I sinned and perverted what I knew to be right,
        but God has not repaid me what I deserved.
²⁸     He has instead paid that ransom
        and spared me from descending into the pit
        and my life now sees the light.”

²⁹     Look! God does all of these things two,
        even three times with a person,
³⁰     In order to guide his soul back from the rim of the pit
        so the light of life might shine on him.
³¹     Lend your ear, Job, and listen well to me;
        remain silent, and I will do the talking.
³²     If you have anything to say to me, say it. Make your answer to me;
        go ahead and speak, because I do desire to see you justified to God.
³³     But if not, then listen well to me;
        stay quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.