Job 33

New King James Version

Elihu Contradicts Job

33 “But please, Job, hear my speech,
And listen to all my words.
²Now, I open my mouth;
My tongue speaks in my mouth.
³My words come from my upright heart;
My lips utter pure knowledge.
⁴^(A)The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
⁵If you can answer me,
Set your words in order before me;
Take your stand.
⁶^(B)Truly I am ^[a]as your spokesman before God;
I also have been formed out of clay.
⁷^(C)Surely no fear of me will terrify you,
Nor will my hand be heavy on you.

⁸“Surely you have spoken ^[b]in my hearing,
And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,
⁹‘I^(D) am pure, without transgression;
I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.
¹⁰Yet He finds occasions against me,
^(E)He counts me as His enemy;
¹¹^(F)He puts my feet in the stocks,
He watches all my paths.’

¹²“Look, in this you are not righteous.
I will answer you,
For God is greater than man.
¹³Why do you ^(G)contend with Him?
For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.
¹⁴^(H)For God may speak in one way, or in another,
Yet man does not perceive it.
¹⁵^(I)In a dream, in a vision of the night,
When deep sleep falls upon men,
While slumbering on their beds,
¹⁶^(J)Then He opens the ears of men,
And seals their instruction.
¹⁷In order to turn man from his deed,
And conceal pride from man,
¹⁸He keeps back his soul from the Pit,
And his life from ^[c]perishing by the sword.

¹⁹“Man is also chastened with pain on his ^(K)bed,
And with strong pain in many of his bones,
²⁰^(L)So that his life abhors ^(M)bread,
And his soul ^[d]succulent food.
²¹His flesh wastes away from sight,
And his bones stick out which once were not seen.
²²Yes, his soul draws near the Pit,
And his life to the executioners.

²³“If there is a messenger for him,
A mediator, one among a thousand,
To show man His uprightness,
²⁴Then He is gracious to him, and says,
‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit;
I have found ^[e]a ransom’;
²⁵His flesh shall be young like a child’s,
He shall return to the days of his youth.
²⁶He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,
He shall see His face with joy,
For He restores to man His righteousness.
²⁷Then he looks at men and ^(N)says,
‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right,
And it ^(O)did not profit me.’
²⁸He will ^(P)redeem ^[f]his soul from going down to the Pit,
And his life shall see the light.

²⁹“Behold, God works all these things,
Twice, in fact, three times with a man,
³⁰^(Q)To bring back his soul from the Pit,
That he may be enlightened with the light of life.

³¹“Give ear, Job, listen to me;
Hold your peace, and I will speak.
³²If you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire to justify you.
³³If not, ^(R)listen to me;
^[g]Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.”