Job 32

Elihu

¹ So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. ² But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. ³ He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. ^{[a] 4} Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. ⁵But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.

⁶ So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said:
“I am young in years,
and you are old;
that is why I was fearful,
not daring to tell you what I know.

⁷ I thought, ‘Age should speak;
advanced years should teach wisdom.’

⁸ But it is the spirit ^[b] in a man,
the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.

⁹ It is not only the old ^[c] who are wise,
not only the aged who understand what is right.

¹⁰ “Therefore I say: Listen to me;
I too will tell you what I know.

¹¹ I waited while you spoke,
I listened to your reasoning;
while you were searching for words,

¹² I gave you my full attention.
But not one of you has proved Job wrong;
none of you has answered his arguments.

¹³ Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;
let God refute him, not man.’

¹⁴ But Job has not marshaled his words against me,
and I will not answer him with your arguments.

¹⁵ “They are dismayed and have no more to say;
words have failed them.

¹⁶ Must I wait, now that they are silent,
now that they stand there with no reply?

¹⁷ I too will have my say;
I too will tell what I know.

¹⁸ For I am full of words,
and the spirit within me compels me;

¹⁹ inside I am like bottled-up wine,
like new wineskins ready to burst.

²⁰ I must speak and find relief;
I must open my lips and reply.

²¹ I will show partiality to no one,
nor will I flatter any man;

²² for if I were skilled in flattery,
my Maker would soon take me away.

Job 33

¹ “But now, Job, listen to my words;
pay attention to everything I say.

² I am about to open my mouth;
my words are on the tip of my tongue.

³ My words come from an upright heart;
my lips sincerely speak what I know.

⁴ The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵ Answer me then, if you can;
prepare yourself and confront me.

⁶ I am just like you before God;
I too have been taken from clay.

⁷ No fear of me should alarm you,
nor should my hand be heavy upon you.

⁸ “But you have said in my hearing—
I heard the very words-

⁹ ‘I am pure and without sin;
I am clean and free from guilt.

¹⁰ Yet God has found fault with me;
he considers me his enemy.

¹¹ He fastens my feet in shackles;
he keeps close watch on all my paths.’

¹² “But I tell you, in this you are not right,
for God is greater than man.

¹³ Why do you complain to him
that he answers none of man’s words ^[d]?

¹⁴ For God does speak—now one way, now another—
though man may not perceive it.

¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men
as they slumber in their beds,

¹⁶ he may speak in their ears
and terrify them with warnings,

¹⁷ to turn man from wrongdoing
and keep him from pride,

¹⁸ to preserve his soul from the pit, ^[e]
his life from perishing by the sword. ^[f]

¹⁹ Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain
with constant distress in his bones,

²⁰ so that his very being finds food repulsive
and his soul loathes the choicest meal.

²¹ His flesh wastes away to nothing,
and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.

²² His soul draws near to the pit, ^[g]
and his life to the messengers of death. ^[h]

²³ “Yet if there is an angel on his side
as a mediator, one out of a thousand,
to tell a man what is right for him,

²⁴ to be gracious to him and say,
‘Spare him from going down to the pit ^[i] ;
I have found a ransom for him’-

²⁵ then his flesh is renewed like a child’s;
it is restored as in the days of his youth.

²⁶ He prays to God and finds favor with him,
he sees God’s face and shouts for joy;
he is restored by God to his righteous state.

²⁷ Then he comes to men and says,
‘I sinned, and perverted what was right,
but I did not get what I deserved.

²⁸ He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, ^[j]
and I will live to enjoy the light.’

²⁹ “God does all these things to a man—
twice, even three times-

³⁰ to turn back his soul from the pit, ^[k]
that the light of life may shine on him.

³¹ “Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.

³² If you have anything to say, answer me;
speak up, for I want you to be cleared.

³³ But if not, then listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”