| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1“Listen to my words, Job; pay attention to what I have to say. | 1"But now, O Job, listen to my words, and hear everything I have to say! |
| 2Now that I have begun to speak, let me continue. | 2See now, I have opened my mouth; my tongue in my mouth has spoken. |
| 3I speak with all sincerity; I speak the truth. | 3My words come from the uprightness of my heart, and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely. |
| 4For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. | 4The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. |
| 5Answer me, if you can; make your case and take your stand. | 5Reply to me, if you can; set your arguments in order before me and take your stand! |
| 6Look, you and I both belong to God. I, too, was formed from clay. | 6Look, I am just like you in relation to God; I too have been molded from clay. |
| 7So you don’t need to be afraid of me. I won’t come down hard on you. | 7Therefore no fear of me should terrify you, nor should my pressure be heavy on you. |
| 8“You have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard your very words. | 8"Indeed, you have said in my hearing (I heard the sound of the words!): |
| 9You said, ‘I am pure; I am without sin; I am innocent; I have no guilt. | 9I am pure, without transgression; I am clean and have no iniquity. |
| 10God is picking a quarrel with me, and he considers me his enemy. | 10Yet God finds occasions with me; he regards me as his enemy! |
| 11He puts my feet in the stocks and watches my every move.’ | 11He puts my feet in shackles; he watches closely all my paths.' |
| 12“But you are wrong, and I will show you why. For God is greater than any human being. | 12Now in this, you are not right--I answer you, for God is greater than a human being. |
| 13So why are you bringing a charge against him? Why say he does not respond to people’s complaints? | 13Why do you contend against him, that he does not answer all a person's words? |
| 14For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. | 14"For God speaks, the first time in one way, the second time in another, though a person does not perceive it. |
| 15He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. | 15In a dream, a night vision, when deep sleep falls on people as they sleep in their beds. |
| 16He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings. | 16Then he gives a revelation to people, and terrifies them with warnings, |
| 17He makes them turn from doing wrong; he keeps them from pride. | 17to turn a person from his sin, and to cover a person's pride. |
| 18He protects them from the grave, from crossing over the river of death. | 18He spares a person's life from corruption, his very life from crossing over the river. |
| 19“Or God disciplines people with pain on their sickbeds, with ceaseless aching in their bones. | 19Or a person is chastened by pain on his bed, and with the continual strife of his bones, |
| 20They lose their appetite for even the most delicious food. | 20so that his life loathes food, and his soul rejects appetizing fare. |
| 21Their flesh wastes away, and their bones stick out. | 21His flesh wastes away from sight, and his bones, which were not seen, are easily visible. |
| 22They are at death’s door; the angels of death wait for them. | 22He draws near to the place of corruption, and his life to the messengers of death. |
| 23“But if an angel from heaven appears— a special messenger to intercede for a person and declare that he is upright— | 23If there is an angel beside him, one mediator out of a thousand, to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness; |
| 24he will be gracious and say, ‘Rescue him from the grave, for I have found a ransom for his life.’ | 24and if God is gracious to him and says, 'Spare him from going down to the place of corruption, I have found a ransom for him,' |
| 25Then his body will become as healthy as a child’s, firm and youthful again. | 25then his flesh is restored like a youth's; he returns to the days of his youthful vigor. |
| 26When he prays to God, he will be accepted. And God will receive him with joy and restore him to good standing. | 26He entreats God, and God delights in him, he sees God's face with rejoicing, and God restores to him his righteousness. |
| 27He will declare to his friends, ‘I sinned and twisted the truth, but it was not worth it. | 27That person sings to others, saying: 'I have sinned and falsified what is right, but I was not punished according to what I deserved. |
| 28God rescued me from the grave, and now my life is filled with light.’ | 28He redeemed my life from going down to the place of corruption, and my life sees the light!' |
| 29“Yes, God does these things again and again for people. | 29"Indeed, God does all these things, twice, three times, in his dealings with a person, |
| 30He rescues them from the grave so they may enjoy the light of life. | 30to turn back his life from the place of corruption, that he may be enlightened with the light of life. |
| 31Mark this well, Job. Listen to me, for I have more to say. | 31Pay attention, Job--listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. |
| 32But if you have anything to say, go ahead. Speak, for I am anxious to see you justified. | 32If you have any words, reply to me; speak, for I want to justify you. |
| 33But if not, then listen to me. Keep silent and I will teach you wisdom!” | 33If not, you listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom." |
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