Job 33

Elihu Claims to Speak for God

1 “However, please ^ahear my speech, Job,
And listen to all my words.
2 “Behold now, I open my mouth,
My tongue in my ▼

▼Lit palate

mouth speaks.
3 “My words are from the integrity of my heart,
And my lips speak ^cknowledge sincerely.
4 “The ^dSpirit of God has made me,
And the ^ebreath of ▼

▼Heb Shaddai

the Almighty gives me life.
5 “ ^gRefute me if you can;
Line up against me, take your stand.
6 “Behold, I belong to God, like you;
I too have been ▼

▼Lit cut out of

formed out of the ⁱclay.
7 “Behold, ^jno fear of me should terrify you,
Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.

8 “You have in fact spoken ▼

▼Lit in my ears

while I listened,
And I heard the sound of your words:
9 ‘I am ^lpure, ^mwithout wrongdoing;
I am innocent and there ⁿis no guilt in me.
10 ‘Behold, He ▼

▼Lit finds

invents ▼

▼Or complaints

criticisms against me;
He ^qcounts me as His enemy.
11 ‘He ^rputs my feet in the stocks;
He watches all my paths.’
12 “Behold, let me respond to you, ^syou are not right in this,
For God is greater than mankind.

13 “Why do you ^tcomplain to Him
That He does not give an account of all His doings?
14 “Indeed ^uGod speaks once,
Or twice, yet no one notices it.
15 “In a ^vdream, a vision of the night,
When deep sleep falls on people,
While they slumber in their beds,
16 Then ^wHe opens the ears of people,
And horrifies them with warnings,
17 So that He may turn a person away from bad conduct,
And ▼

▼Lit hide

keep a man from pride;
18 He ^ykeeps his soul back from the pit,
And his life from perishing by the ^zspear.

19 “A person is also rebuked by ^aapain in his bed,
And with constant complaint in his bones,
20 So that his life ^abloathes bread,
And his soul, food ▼

▼Lit of craving

that he should crave.
21 “His ^adflesh wastes away from sight,
And his ^aebones, which were not seen, stick out.
22 “Then ^afhis soul comes near to the pit,
And his life to those who bring death.

23 “If there is an ^aginterceding angel for him,
One out of a thousand,
To remind a person of what is ▼

▼Lit his uprightness

right for him,
24 And he is gracious to him, and says,
‘Free him from ^aigoing down to the pit,
I have found a ^ajransom’;
25 Let his flesh become fresher than in youth,
Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;
26 Then he will ^akpray to God, and He will accept him,
So that ^alhe may see His face with joy,
And He will restore His righteousness to that person.
27 “He will sing to people and say,
‘I ^amhave sinned and perverted what is right,
And it is not ^anproper for me.
28 ‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit,
And my life will ^aosee the light.’

29 “Behold, God does ^apall these things for a man two or three times,
30 To ^aqbring back his soul from the pit,
So that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
31 “Pay attention, Job, listen to me;
Keep silent, and let me speak.
32 “Then if ▼

▼Lit there are words

you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I would take pleasure in justifying you.
33 “If not, ^aslisten to me;
Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”