Chapter 33

¹Therefore, O Job, hear my discourse, and hearken to all my words. ²Behold, now I open my mouth; my tongue and my voice form words. ³I will state directly what is in my mind, my lips shall utter knowledge sincerely; ⁴For the spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty keeps me alive. ^b Jb 32, 8 . ⁵If you are able, refute me; draw up your arguments and stand forth. ⁶Behold I, like yourself, have been taken from the same clay by God. ^c Jb 31, 15 . ⁷Therefore no fear of me should dismay you, nor should my presence weigh heavily upon you. ⁸But you have said in my hearing, as I listened to the sound of your words: ⁹“I am clean and without transgression; I am innocent; there is no guilt in me. ^d Jb 10, 7; 13, 18; 27, 5f; 29, 14; 32, 1; 34, 5 . ¹⁰Yet he invents pretexts against me and reckons me as his enemy. ^e Jb 13, 24; 19, 11 . ¹¹He puts my feet in the stocks; he watches all my ways!” ^f Jb 13, 27; 31, 4 . ¹²In this you are not just, let me tell you; for God is greater than man. ¹³Why, then, do you make complaint against him that he gives no account of his doings? ^g Jb 31, 35 . ¹⁴For God does speak, perhaps once, or even twice, though one perceive it not. ¹⁵In a dream, in a vision of the night, [when deep sleep falls upon men] as they slumber in their beds, ¹⁶It is then he opens the ears of men and as a warning to them, terrifies them; ¹⁷By turning man from evil and keeping pride away from him, ¹⁸He withholds his soul from the pit and his life from passing to the grave. ¹⁹Or a man is chastened on his bed by pain and unceasing suffering within his frame, ²⁰So that to his appetite food becomes repulsive, and his senses reject the choicest nourishment. ^h Jb 6, 7 . ²¹His flesh is wasted so that it cannot be seen, and his bones, once invisible, appear; ²²His soul draws near to the pit, his life to the place of the dead. ²³If then there be for him an angel,^* one out of a thousand, a mediator, To show him what is right for him and bring the man back to justice, ²⁴He will take pity on him and say, “Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found him a ransom.” ²⁵Then his flesh shall become soft as a boy's; he shall be again as in the days of his youth. ²⁶He shall pray and God will favor him; he shall see God's face with rejoicing. ⁱ Jb 22, 26–29 . ²⁷He shall sing before men and say, “I sinned and did wrong, yet he has not punished me accordingly. ²⁸He delivered my soul from passing to the pit, and I behold the light of life.” ²⁹Lo, all these things God does, twice, or thrice, for a man, ³⁰Bringing back his soul from the pit to the light, in the land of the living. ³¹Be attentive, O Job; listen to me! Be silent and I will speak. ³²If you have aught to say, then answer me. Speak out! I should like to see you justified. ³³If not, then do you listen to me; be silent while I teach you wisdom.