[1] “But now, hear my speech, O Job, and listen to all my words.
[2] “Behold, I open my mouth; the tongue in my mouth speaks.
[3] “My words declare the uprightness of my heart, and what my lips know they speak sincerely.
[4] “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
[5] “Answer me, if you can; set your words in order before me; take your stand.
[6] “Behold, I am toward God as you are; I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.
[7] “Behold, no fear of me need terrify you; my pressure will not be heavy upon you.
[8] “Surely you have spoken in my ears, and I have heard the sound of your words.
[9] “You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.
[10] “‘Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy,
[11] “‘he puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths.’
[12] “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man.
[13] “Why do you contend against him, saying, ‘He will answer none of man’s words’?
[14] “For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.
[15] “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds,
[16] “then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings,
[17] “that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man;
[18] “he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.
[19] “Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones,
[20] “so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food.
[21] “His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out.
[22] “His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death.
[23] “If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him,
[24] “and he is merciful to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom;
[25] “‘let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’;
[26] “then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness.
[27] “He sings before men and says: ‘I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me.
[28] “‘He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.’
[29] “Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man,
[30] “to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life.
[31] “Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.
[32] “If you have any words, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you.
[33] “If not, listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”