¹ “Therefore, O Job, listen to my words
    and pay careful attention to everything I have to say.
² Behold, I have opened my mouth;
    the words are on the tip of my tongue.
³ My words issue forth from an upright heart,
    and my lips will be sincere in what I say.
⁴ The Spirit of God has made me,
    and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
⁵ “Refute me if you are able to do so;
    prepare your arguments and confront me.
⁶ In the sight of God I am just like you;
    like you, I was formed from a piece of clay.
⁷ Therefore, no fear of me should frighten you,
    nor should you feel any pressure on my account.
⁸ “You have offered your defense in my presence,
    and I have listened carefully to the words you spoke.
⁹ You said, ‘I am pure and without sin;
    I am clean, and there is no fault in me.
¹⁰ Yet God continues to invent excuses against me
    and regards me as his enemy.
¹¹ He fastens my feet in shackles
    and watches everything I do.’
¹² “In regard to this, I tell you, you are completely wrong.
    God is greater than any human being.
¹³ Why then do you utter endless complaints
    that he will not explain his decisions to you?

¹⁴ “For God does speak, first in one way and then in another,
    although we do not always perceive it.
¹⁵ “In dreams and in visions of the night,
    when deep sleep falls upon men
    as they slumber on their beds,
¹⁶ God then opens their ears
    and issues warnings that strike them with terror,
¹⁷ so that he may turn man away from evil
    and check his pride.
¹⁸ In this way he spares his soul from the pit^[c]
    and his life from a violent death.
¹⁹ “Or again, he chastens him with pain upon his bed
    and with unceasing agony in his bones,
²⁰ so that he regards food with loathing
    and rejects the choicest dishes.
²¹ His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
    and his bones that once were invisible now begin to show.
²² His soul draws nearer to the pit
    and his life to the abode of the dead.
²³ “But then, if there should be an angel on his side,
    one out of a thousand, a mediator,
to show him what is right for him
    and expound God’s righteousness to him,
²⁴ he will take pity on him and say,
    ‘Spare him from going down into the pit;
    I have the ransom for his life.’
²⁵ Then his flesh will regain its boyish freshness,
    and he will return to the days of his youthful vigor.
²⁶ “Then, if he entreats God to show him favor
    and allow him to enter his presence with joy,
²⁷ he will affirm before everyone,
    ‘I sinned and departed from the path of righteousness,
    but God has not punished me as I deserved.
²⁸ He spared my soul from descending into the pit,
    and I will behold the light of life.’
²⁹ “God indeed does all these things
    again and again^[d] for a man,
³⁰ bringing back his soul from the pit
    so that he may see the light of life.
³¹ “Be attentive, Job, and listen to me;
    be silent and I will speak.
³² If you have anything to say, then answer me;
    speak, for I desire to justify you.
³³ But if you have nothing to say, then listen to me;
    be silent and I will teach you wisdom.”