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33:1  Elihu: So now, Job, listen closely to my words; lend an ear to my speeches.
33:2  Wait for it! I am about ready to part my lips; even now, my tongue begins to stir within my mouth.
33:3  My words emerge from a heart of integrity; my lips express their knowledge with sincerity.
33:4  God’s Spirit has fashioned me and the breath of the Highest One imparts life to me.
33:5  So refute me if you can; go ahead and make your preparations and assume your position.
33:6  But remember I am just like you; we are both God’s vessels, both pinched from the clay and formed by Him.
33:7  Look, there is no reason for you to be afraid of me; my hand will not feel all that heavy on you.
33:8  Job, now you have said—and I heard it— I heard the words sounded out:
33:9  “I am pure, without sin; innocent indeed, and there is no wrongdoing within me!
33:10  But oh! God has come up with reasons to accuse me; now He considers me His enemy.
33:11  He locks my feet in the shackles; He watches all my paths, dogs my every step.”
33:12  But listen! You are wrong in all this because God is greater than a mere man.
33:13  Why do you argue with Him, complaining that He refuses to account for all of His actions?
33:14  For God does speak in one way and even another way— yet no one may be able to perceive what He says.
33:15  One kind of answer God gives comes in the form of a dream—in a night-vision— When deep slumber comes to people who have lain down to sleep in their beds.
33:16  Yes, this is often when He opens the ears of humanity, and seals their life-corrections in the terrors of the night
33:17  So that He can turn one away from his evil deeds and put down the arrogance of the proud.
33:18  He does all of this so that He might hold back one soul from the pit and protect one life from passing over to the land of death.
33:19  Or another kind of answer God gives comes thus: one may be corrected through a bed of pain; his bones may hold him in an unceasing trial,
33:20  In which his food becomes repulsive, and he doesn’t hunger for even his favorite meals.
33:21  His body wastes away almost to nothing, and bones, once hidden, stick out gruesomely.
33:22  Thus he is sobered as his soul approaches the rim of the pit, as his life hears the whispers of the coming messengers of death.
33:23  If there is a heavenly messenger at one’s side, a mediator, even just one out of the thousand in his regime of God’s messengers, to proclaim what is right for that person according to God,
33:24  And to be gracious to him and to say, “Spare this one from descending into the pit; I have found a ransom that will save his life!
33:25  Then his skin will be renewed, as smooth and fresh as a child’s, and he will be restored to the vim and vigor of his youth.”
33:26  He will make his appeal to God, and God will grant acceptance; he will see God’s face and shout with joy, knowing God has restored his right standing.
33:27  Then he comes to his fellow humans and sings out, “I sinned and perverted what I knew to be right, but God has not repaid me what I deserved.
33:28  He has instead paid that ransom and spared me from descending into the pit and my life now sees the light.”
33:29  Look! God does all of these things two, even three times with a person,
33:30  In order to guide his soul back from the rim of the pit so the light of life might shine on him.
33:31  Lend your ear, Job, and listen well to me; remain silent, and I will do the talking.
33:32  If you have anything to say to me, say it. Make your answer to me; go ahead and speak, because I do desire to see you justified to God.
33:33  But if not, then listen well to me; stay quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.