33
Elihu challenged Job
1 “But now, Job, listen carefully
to all that I am going to say [DOU].
2 I am ready to tell you [MTY, DOU] what I think.
3 I know that I am speaking honestly
and that I am speaking [MTY] sincerely.
4 Almighty God has created me as well as you,
and his breath has caused me to live.
5 So, answer what I say if you can;
think carefully about how you will reply to me.
6 “God considers that you, and I are both equal;
he formed both of us from clay.
7 So you do not need to be afraid of me;
I will not crush/oppress you by what I say [MTY].
8 I have heard you [DOU] speaking,
and this is what you have said:
9 ‘I am innocent; I have not committed any sins;
I am pure; I have not done things that are wrong.
10 But God finds reasons to accuse me,
and he considers that I am his enemy.
11 It is as though he has put my feet ◄in stocks/between wooden blocks to prevent me from walking away►,
and he watches everything that I do.’ [MTY]
12 But what you have said is wrong,
and I will tell you what you have said that is wrong.
God is much greater than any human.
13 So, ◄why are you arguing against God, saying ‘He never answers my questions’?/you should not be arguing against God, saying ‘He never answers my questions.’► [RHQ]
14 God does speak to us in various ways,
but we do not pay any attention to what he says.
15 Sometimes he speaks to us at night in dreams and visions,
when we are on our beds, asleep [DOU].
16 He reveals things [MTY] to us
and terrifies us by the things he warns us about.
17 He tell us those things in order that we stop doing evil things
and to prevent us from becoming proud.
18 He does not want us to be destroyed [MTY];
he wants to prevent us from dying [MTY] while we are still young.
19 God also sometimes corrects us by forcing us to lie on our beds suffering much pain
and with fever/aching in our bones.
20 The result is that we do not desire any food,
not even very special food.
21 Our bodies become very thin, with the result that we look like skeletons [HYP],
and our bones stick out.
22 We know that we will soon die
and go to the place where dead people are.
23 “But sometimes an angel may come to one of us,
one of the thousands of angels who come to intervene between us and God,
to tell us what are the right things for us to do.
24 The angel is kind to us and says to God,
‘Release that person,
so that he does not descend to the place where dead people are!
Do that because I have found the money to pay so that he can be released!
25 Allow his body to be strong again;
allow him to be strong like he was when he was a youth!’
26 When that happens, that person will pray to God, and God will accept/answer him;
he will ◄enter God’s presence/worship God► joyfully,
and then he will tell others how God saved him from dying.
27 He will sing as he tells everyone,
‘I sinned, and I did things that were not right,
but God did not punish me in the way that I deserved.
28 He has saved me from dying and going to the place where dead people are,
and I will continue to enjoy being alive.’
29 God does all these things for us many times;
30 he keeps us [SYN] from dying and going to the place where the dead are,
in order that we can continue to enjoy being alive [IDM].
31 So Job, listen to me;
do not say anything more; just allow me to speak.
32 After I speak, if you have something more that you want to say to me,
say it, because I would like to find a way to declare that you ◄are innocent/have not done what is wrong►.
33 But if you have nothing more that you want to say, then just listen to me,
and I will teach you how to become wise.”