| New International Version | English Standard Version |
| 1"But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say. | 1“But now, hear my speech, O Job, and listen to all my words. |
| 2I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue. | 2Behold, I open my mouth; the tongue in my mouth speaks. |
| 3My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know. | 3My words declare the uprightness of my heart, and what my lips know they speak sincerely. |
| 4The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. | 4The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. |
| 5Answer me then, if you can; stand up and argue your case before me. | 5Answer me, if you can; set your words in order before me; take your stand. |
| 6I am the same as you in God's sight; I too am a piece of clay. | 6Behold, I am toward God as you are; I too was pinched off from a piece of clay. |
| 7No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy on you. | 7Behold, no fear of me need terrify you; my pressure will not be heavy upon you. |
| 8"But you have said in my hearing-- I heard the very words-- | 8“Surely you have spoken in my ears, and I have heard the sound of your words. |
| 9I am pure, I have done no wrong; I am clean and free from sin. | 9You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me. |
| 10Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy. | 10Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy, |
| 11He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.' | 11he puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths.’ |
| 12"But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal. | 12“Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. |
| 13Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one's words? | 13Why do you contend against him, saying, ‘He will answer none of man’s words’? |
| 14For God does speak--now one way, now another-- though no one perceives it. | 14For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. |
| 15In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, | 15In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, |
| 16he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, | 16then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, |
| 17to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, | 17that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man; |
| 18to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword. | 18he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. |
| 19"Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in their bones, | 19“Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones, |
| 20so that their body finds food repulsive and their soul loathes the choicest meal. | 20so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food. |
| 21Their flesh wastes away to nothing, and their bones, once hidden, now stick out. | 21His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. |
| 22They draw near to the pit, and their life to the messengers of death. | 22His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death. |
| 23Yet if there is an angel at their side, a messenger, one out of a thousand, sent to tell them how to be upright, | 23If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him, |
| 24and he is gracious to that person and says to God, 'Spare them from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for them-- | 24and he is merciful to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom; |
| 25let their flesh be renewed like a child's; let them be restored as in the days of their youth'-- | 25let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’; |
| 26then that person can pray to God and find favor with him, they will see God's face and shout for joy; he will restore them to full well-being. | 26then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness. |
| 27And they will go to others and say, 'I have sinned, I have perverted what is right, but I did not get what I deserved. | 27He sings before men and says: ‘I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me. |
| 28God has delivered me from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.' | 28He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.’ |
| 29"God does all these things to a person-- twice, even three times-- | 29“Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, |
| 30to turn them back from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them. | 30to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life. |
| 31"Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. | 31Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. |
| 32If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want to vindicate you. | 32If you have any words, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you. |
| 33But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom." | 33If not, listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.” |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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