| International Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1"Now please listen to what I have to say, Job. Listen to every word! | 1"But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say. |
| 2Look! I've begun to speak, and I'm fashioning my words. | 2I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue. |
| 3I speak from the innocence of my heart; and my lips will utter what I sincerely know. | 3My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know. |
| 4"The spirit of God fashioned me; and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. | 4The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. |
| 5Answer me, if you can! Present your case! Take your stand in my presence! | 5Answer me then, if you can; stand up and argue your case before me. |
| 6Look! As far as God is concerned, I'm just like you are— I, too, have been pinched off from a piece of clay. | 6I am the same as you in God's sight; I too am a piece of clay. |
| 7Don't be afraid of me; I'll go easy on you." | 7No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy on you. |
| 8"You spoke clearly so I could hear; I've heard what you've said: | 8"But you have said in my hearing-- I heard the very words-- |
| 9I'm pure. I'm without sin; I'm innocent. I'm harboring no iniquity inside of me. | 9I am pure, I have done no wrong; I am clean and free from sin. |
| 10Nevertheless, God has found a pretext to attack me; he considers me his enemy. | 10Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy. |
| 11He has bound my feet in shackles, and keeps watching everything I do.'" | 11He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.' |
| 12"You aren't right about this; My response is that God is greater than human beings. | 12"But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal. |
| 13Why are you arguing with him? He doesn't have to give explanations for what he does to you! | 13Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one's words? |
| 14"God speaks time and time again — but nobody notices— | 14For God does speak--now one way, now another-- though no one perceives it. |
| 15in a dream or night vision, when a deep sleep falls on mankind while they sleep on their beds. | 15In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, |
| 16That's when he opens the ear of mankind, authenticating his messages to them, | 16he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, |
| 17turning a person from his actions, keeping him from pride, | 17to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, |
| 18sparing his soul from the Pit and his life from violent death. | 18to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword. |
| 19"He is being reproved by painful bed rest, with continual aching in his bones. | 19"Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in their bones, |
| 20He cannot stand his food, and he has no desire for appetizing food. | 20so that their body finds food repulsive and their soul loathes the choicest meal. |
| 21His flesh wastes away; his bones, which once couldn't be seen, are visible. | 21Their flesh wastes away to nothing, and their bones, once hidden, now stick out. |
| 22His soul is getting close to the Pit; his life is approaching its executioner." | 22They draw near to the pit, and their life to the messengers of death. |
| 23"If there's a messenger appointed to mediate for Job —one out of a thousand— to represent the man's integrity on his behalf, | 23Yet if there is an angel at their side, a messenger, one out of a thousand, sent to tell them how to be upright, |
| 24to show favor to him and to plead, 'Deliver him from having to go down to the Pit — I know where his ransom is!' | 24and he is gracious to that person and says to God, 'Spare them from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for them-- |
| 25Let his flesh be rejuvenated as he was in his youth! Let him recover the strength of his youth. | 25let their flesh be renewed like a child's; let them be restored as in the days of their youth'-- |
| 26Let him pray to God and he will accept him; he will appear before him with joyful shouts!" | 26then that person can pray to God and find favor with him, they will see God's face and shout for joy; he will restore them to full well-being. |
| 27"He'll sing to mankind with these words: 'I've sinned. I have twisted what is right. Yet he has not repaid me like I deserve. | 27And they will go to others and say, 'I have sinned, I have perverted what is right, but I did not get what I deserved. |
| 28He has redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit; my life will see the light.' | 28God has delivered me from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.' |
| 29Indeed God does all these things again and again with a person | 29"God does all these things to a person-- twice, even three times-- |
| 30to bring back his soul from the Pit; to light him with the light of life." | 30to turn them back from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them. |
| 31"Job, pay attention! Listen to me! Be silent and let me speak. | 31"Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. |
| 32If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, because I'd be happy to vindicate you. | 32If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want to vindicate you. |
| 33But if you have nothing to say, then at least listen to me! Be quiet and learn some wisdom from me." | 33But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom." |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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