Elihu Rebukes Job

¹ “But now, please hear my speeches,¹ Job, and hear² all my words.

1. Or “my sentences,” or “what I have to say”
2. Or “give ear to”

² Please look, I open my mouth; my tongue in my mouth speaks.

³ My words declare my heart’s uprightness, and my lips sincerely speak ⌞what my lips know⌟.¹

1. Literally “the knowledge of my lips”

⁴ The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of Shaddai gives life to me.

⁵ “If you are able, answer me. Present your argument ⌞before me⌟;¹ take your stand.

1. Literally “to the face of me”

⁶ Look, before God ⌞I am like you⌟;¹ I myself was also formed from clay.

1. Literally “I am like your mouth”

⁷ Look, dread of me should not terrify you, and my hand will not be heavy upon you.

⁸ “Surely you have spoken in my ears, and I have heard the sound of your words:¹

1. Or “sentences,” or “what you say”

⁹ ‘I am clean, without transgression; I am pure, and there is no guilt in me.

¹⁰ Look, he finds fault against me; he reckons me as his enemy;

¹¹ he puts my feet in the block; he watches all my paths.’

¹² “Look, in this you are not right—I will answer you: Indeed, God is greater than a human being.

¹³ Why do you contend against him, that he will not answer all a person’s words?

¹⁴ Indeed, God speaks in one way, even¹ in two,² yet someone does not perceive it.

1. Hebrew “and”
2. Or “time and again” (NJPS, HCSB)

¹⁵ “In a dream, a vision of the night, when a deep sleep falls on men slumbering on their bed,

¹⁶ then he opens the ear of men, and ⌞he frightens them with a warning⌟¹

1. Literally “with their warning he frightens”

¹⁷ to turn human beings aside from their deeds, and he keeps man from pride.

¹⁸ He spares his life from the pit and his life from passing over the river of death.

¹⁹ “And he is reproved with pain on his bed, even¹ with the strife of his bones continually,

1. Hebrew “and”

²⁰ ⌞so that⌟¹ his life loathes bread, and his inner self² loathes ⌞appetizing food⌟.³

1. Hebrew “and”
2. Or “soul”
3. Literally “food of desire”

²¹ His flesh is wasted away from sight, and his bones, which are invisible, are bared.

²² And ⌞he⌟¹ draws near to the pit and his life to the killers.

1. Literally “his inner self/soul”

²³ “If there is a messenger beside him, a mediator, one of a thousand,¹ to declare to a human being his uprightness

1. That is, “unique,” or “one of a kind”

²⁴ ⌞so that⌟¹ he is gracious to him, and he says, ‘Deliver him from descending into the pit; I have found a ransom.’

1. Hebrew “and”

²⁵ His flesh is renewed with his youth; he returns to the days of his youthful strength.

²⁶ He prays to God, then he accepts him, and he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he repays to the human being his righteousness.

²⁷ “He will sing to men, and he will say, ‘I have sinned and have perverted what is right, and it was not paid back to me.

²⁸ He redeemed my life from going down into the pit, so¹ ⌞I will enjoy the light⌟.’²

1. Hebrew “and”
2. Literally “my life in the light will see”

²⁹ Look, God does all these things twice, three times¹ with a person

1. Or “time and again,” or “oftentimes” (NASB, NASU), or “several times”

³⁰ to bring his life back from the pit ⌞so that he may enjoy the light of life⌟.¹

1. Literally “to be lighted with the light of the life”

³¹ “Listen attentively, Job; listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.

³² If ⌞you have anything to say⌟,¹ ⌞answer me⌟;² speak, for I desire ⌞to justify you⌟.³

1. Literally “If there are words,” or “If there are sentences”
2. Literally “return to me”
3. Literally “your righteousness”

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