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“But now, O Job, hear my speech, and listen to all my words.
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Behold, I will open my mouth; my address is on the tip of my tongue.
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My words are from an upright heart, and my lips speak sincerely what I know.
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The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
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Refute me if you can; prepare your case and confront me.
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I am just like you before God; I was also formed from clay.
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Surely no fear of me should terrify you; nor will my hand be heavy upon you.
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Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard these very words:
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‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, with no iniquity in me.
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Yet God finds occasions against me; He counts me as His enemy.
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He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches over all my paths.’
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Behold, you are not right in this matter. I will answer you, for God is greater than man.
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Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks?
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For God speaks in one way and in another, yet no one notices.
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In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,
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He opens their ears and terrifies them with warnings
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to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,
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to preserve his soul from the Pit and his life from perishing by the sword.
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A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,
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so that he detests his bread, and his soul loathes his favorite food.
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His flesh wastes away from sight, and his hidden bones protrude.
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He draws near to the Pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
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Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
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to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom,’
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then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth.
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He prays to God and finds favor; he sees God’s face and shouts for joy, and God restores His righteousness to that man.
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Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.
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He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will live to see the light.’
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Behold, all these things God does to a man, two or even three times,
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to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
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Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.
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But if you have something to say, answer me; speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.
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But if not, then listen to me; be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”