⁸ “Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,
⁹ ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.
¹⁰ Yet He finds occasions against me,
He counts me as His enemy;
¹¹ 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.
¹³ Why do you contend with Him?
For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.
¹⁴ For God may speak in one way, or in another,
Yet man does not perceive it.
¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night,
When deep sleep falls upon men,
While slumbering on their beds,
¹⁶ Then He opens the ears of men,
And seals their instruction.
¹⁷ In order to turn man from his deed,
And conceal pride from man,
¹⁸ He keeps back his soul from the Pit,
And his life from perishing by the sword.

¹⁹ “Man is also chastened with pain on his bed,
And with strong pain in many of his bones,
²⁰ So that his life abhors bread,
And his soul succulent food.
²¹ His flesh wastes away from sight,
And his bones stick out which once were not seen.
²² Yes, 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,
²⁴ Then He is gracious to him, and says,
‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit;
I have found a ransom’;
²⁵ His flesh shall be young like a child’s,
He shall return to the days of his youth.
²⁶ He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,
He shall see His face with joy,
For He restores to man His righteousness.
²⁷ Then he looks at men and says,
‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right,
And it did not profit me.’
²⁸ He will redeem his^[b] soul from going down to the Pit,
And his^[c] life shall see the light.

²⁹ “Behold, God works all these things,
Twice, in fact, three times with a man,
³⁰ 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.
³² If you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire to justify you.
³³ If not, listen to me;
Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.”