33:1 "But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say.

33:2 I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue.

33:3 My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know.

33:4 The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

33:5 Answer me then, if you can; prepare yourself and confront me.

33:6 I am just like you before God; I too have been taken from clay.

33:7 No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy upon you.

33:8 "But you have said in my hearing--I heard the very words--

33:9 'I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt.

33:10 Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.

33:11 He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.'

33:12 "But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than man.

33:13 Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words?

33:14 For God does speak--now one way, now another--though man may not perceive it.

33:15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds,

33:16 he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings,

33:17 to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,

33:18 to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.

33:19 Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones,

33:20 so that his very being finds food repulsive and his soul loathes the choicest meal.

33:21 His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.

33:22 His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death.

33:23 "Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,

33:24 to be gracious to him and say, 'Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him'--

33:25 then his flesh is renewed like a child's; it is restored as in the days of his youth.

33:26 He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state.

33:27 Then he comes to men and says, 'I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved.

33:28 He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.'

33:29 "God does all these things to a man--twice, even three times--

33:30 to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him.

33:31 "Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.

33:32 If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want you to be cleared.

33:33 But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."