Job 33:19-30
The Message
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.
23-25 “But even then an angel could come,
a champion—there are thousands of them!—
to take up your cause,
A messenger who would mercifully intervene,
canceling the death sentence with the words:
‘I’ve come up with the ransom!’
Before you know it, you’re healed,
the very picture of health!
26-28 “Or, you may fall on your knees and pray—to God’s delight!
You’ll see God’s smile and celebrate,
finding yourself set right with God.
You’ll sing God’s praises to everyone you meet,
testifying, ‘I messed up my life—
and let me tell you, it wasn’t worth it.
But God stepped in and saved me from certain death.
I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’
29-30 “This is the way God works.
Over and over again
He pulls our souls back from certain destruction
so we’ll see the light—and live in the light!
Job 33:19-30
New International Version
19 “Or someone may be chastened(A) on a bed of pain(B)
with constant distress in their bones,(C)
20 so that their body finds food(D) repulsive
and their soul loathes the choicest meal.(E)
21 Their flesh wastes away to nothing,
and their bones,(F) once hidden, now stick out.(G)
22 They draw near to the pit,(H)
and their life to the messengers of death.[a](I)
23 Yet if there is an angel at their side,
a messenger,(J) one out of a thousand,
sent to tell them how to be upright,(K)
24 and he is gracious to that person and says to God,
‘Spare them from going down to the pit;(L)
I have found a ransom for them(M)—
25 let their flesh be renewed(N) like a child’s;
let them be restored as in the days of their youth’(O)—
26 then that person can pray to God and find favor with him,(P)
they will see God’s face and shout for joy;(Q)
he will restore them to full well-being.(R)
27 And they will go to others and say,
‘I have sinned,(S) I have perverted what is right,(T)
but I did not get what I deserved.(U)
28 God has delivered(V) me from going down to the pit,(W)
and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’(X)
Footnotes
- Job 33:22 Or to the place of the dead
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.