1 "Now then, Job, hear what I have to say, and give ear to all my words.
2 Look, I have opened my mouth; my tongue is forming words in my palate.
3 My words spring from the uprightness of my heart, and my lips speak with sincerity what they know.
4 The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 Answer me if you can; lay out your case before me; take your position.
6 See, I am the same as you before God; I too was nipped off from clay.
7 So no fear of me should alarm you, and no pressure from me will be heavy upon you.
8 You have indeed said in my ears, and I heard the sound of the words:
9 'I am clean and free of transgression; I am spotless, and there is no iniquity in me.
10 Look, he invents complaints against me; he regards me as his foe.
11 He sets my feet in the stocks; he keeps a watch on all my ways.'
12 Here you are not in the right, I tell you, for God is greater than man.
13 Why do you quarrel with him because he gives no account of any of his doings?
14 For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not notice it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber upon their beds,
16 then he uncovers the ears of men and seals the warning given them,
17 to turn a man away from what he does and to keep pride hidden from a man.
18 He spares his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the weapon.
19 A man is also chastened with pain upon his bed, and with continual strife in his bones,
20 so that his life recoils from bread, and his soul from choice food.
21 His flesh wastes until it cannot be seen, and his bones, once hidden, poke out.
22 His soul comes close to the pit, and his life to the bringers of death.
23 If there is an angel at his side, a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
24 then he shows him grace and says, 'Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.'
25 His flesh grows fresher than a child's; he goes back to the days of his youth.
26 He entreats God, and God is pleased with him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and God gives back to the man his righteousness.
27 He sings out before men and says, 'I sinned and twisted what was right, and I was not paid back for it.'
28 He has ransomed his soul from passing into the pit, and his life will look upon the light.
29 Look, God does all these things two or three times with a man,
30 to turn back his soul from the pit, so that he may be lit with the light of life.
31 Take heed, Job, and hear me; keep quiet, and I will speak.
32 If you have words, answer me; speak up, for I would like to see you justified.
33 If not, you listen to me; keep quiet, and I will teach you wisdom."