Job 33:1-16 ▼

1 “However, Job, please listen to my words, And pay attention to everything I say.

2 “Behold, I have opened my mouth [to begin my speech]; My tongue in my mouth is going to speak.

3 “My words will express the uprightness of my heart, And my lips will speak what they know with utter sincerity.

4 “The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life [which inspires me].

5 “Answer me, if you can; Set yourselves before me, take your stand.

6 “Behold, I belong to God like you; I too was formed out of the clay.

7 “Behold, I will not make you afraid or terrified of me [for I am only mortal and not God], Nor should any pressure from me weigh heavily upon you.

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 guilt in me.

10 ‘Behold, God finds pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy.

11 ‘He puts my feet in the stocks [to hinder and humiliate me]; He [suspiciously] watches all my paths,’ [you say].

12 “Look, let me answer you, in this you are not right or just; For God is greater and far superior to man.

13 “Why do you complain against Him? That He does not answer [you with] all His doings.

14 “For God speaks once, And even twice, yet no one notices it [including you, Job].

15 “In a dream, a vision of the night [one may hear God’s voice], When deep sleep falls on men While slumbering upon the bed,

16 Then He opens the ears of men And seals their instruction,