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Elihu Speaks

Job, Listen to Me!

33 Job, listen to me!
    Pay close attention.
* Everything I will say
    is true and sincere,
just as surely as the Spirit
of God All-Powerful[a]
    gave me the breath of life.
Now line up your arguments
    and prepare to face me.
We each were made from clay,
    and God has no favorites,
so don't be afraid of me
    or what I might do.

I Have Heard You Argue

I have heard you argue
that you are innocent,
    guilty of nothing.
10 You claim that God
    has made you his enemy,
11 (A) that he has bound your feet
    and blocked your path.
12 But, Job, you're wrong—
God is greater
    than any human.
13 So why do you challenge God
    to answer you?[b]
14 God speaks in different ways,
and we don't always
    recognize his voice.
* 15 (B) Sometimes in the night,
he uses terrifying dreams
16     to give us warnings.
17 God does this to make us turn
    from sin and pride
18 and to protect us
from being swept away
    to the world of the dead.

19 Sometimes we are punished
with a serious illness
    and aching joints.
20 Merely the thought
of our favorite food
    makes our stomachs sick,
21 and we become so skinny
    that our bones stick out.
22 We feel death and the grave
    taking us in their grip.

23 One of a thousand angels
then comes to our rescue
    by saying we are innocent.
24 The angel shows kindness,
commanding death to release us,
    because the price was paid.
25 Our health is restored,
we feel young again,
26     and we ask God to accept us.
Then we joyfully worship God,
and we are rewarded
    because we are innocent.
27 When that happens,
    we tell everyone,
“I sinned and did wrong,
    but God forgave me
28 and rescued me from death!
    Now I will see the light.”

29 God gives each of us
    chance after chance
30 to be saved from death
and brought into the light
    that gives life.
31 So, Job, pay attention
    and don't interrupt,
32 though I would gladly listen
to anything you say
    that proves you are right.
33 Otherwise, listen in silence
    to my wisdom.

Footnotes

  1. 33.4 the Spirit of God All-Powerful: Or “God All-Powerful.”
  2. 33.13 answer you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.

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