Daily Bread

“I am young in years,
    and you are old;^(J)
that is why I was fearful,
    not daring to tell you what I know.
⁷ I thought, ‘Age should speak;
    advanced years should teach wisdom.’^(K)
8 But it is the spirit^[b](L) in a person,
    the breath of the Almighty,^(M) that gives them understanding.^(N)
9 It is not only the old^[c] who are wise,^(O)
    not only the aged^(P) who understand what is right.^(Q)

¹⁰ “Therefore I say: Listen to me;^(R)
    I too will tell you what I know.^(S)
11 I waited while you spoke,
    I listened to your reasoning;
while you were searching for words,
¹²     I gave you my full attention.
But not one of you has proved Job wrong;
    none of you has answered his arguments.^(T)
13 Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;^(U)
    let God, not a man, refute^(V) him.’
¹⁴ But Job has not marshaled his words against me,^(W)
    and I will not answer him with your arguments.

¹⁵ “They are dismayed and have no more to say;
    words have failed them.^(X)
16 Must I wait, now that they are silent,
    now that they stand there with no reply?
¹⁷ I too will have my say;
    I too will tell what I know.^(Y)
18 For I am full of words,
    and the spirit^(Z) within me compels me;^(AA)
19 inside I am like bottled-up wine,
    like new wineskins ready to burst.^(AB)
20 I must speak and find relief;
    I must open my lips and reply.^(AC)
21 I will show no partiality,^(AD)
    nor will I flatter anyone;^(AE)
22 for if I were skilled in flattery,
    my Maker^(AF) would soon take me away.^(AG)

33 “But now, Job, listen^(AH) to my words;
    pay attention to everything I say.^(AI)
2 I am about to open my mouth;
    my words are on the tip of my tongue.
³ My words come from an upright heart;^(AJ)
    my lips sincerely speak what I know.^(AK)
4 The Spirit^(AL) of God has made me;^(AM)
    the breath of the Almighty^(AN) gives me life.^(AO)
5 Answer me^(AP) then, if you can;
    stand up^(AQ) and argue your case before me.^(AR)
6 I am the same as you in God’s sight;^(AS)
    I too am a piece of clay.^(AT)
7 No fear of me should alarm you,
    nor should my hand be heavy on you.^(AU)

⁸ “But you have said in my hearing—
    I heard the very words—
⁹ ‘I am pure,^(AV) I have done no wrong;^(AW)
    I am clean and free from sin.^(AX)
10 Yet God has found fault with me;
    he considers me his enemy.^(AY)
11 He fastens my feet in shackles;^(AZ)
    he keeps close watch on all my paths.’^(BA)

¹² “But I tell you, in this you are not right,
    for God is greater than any mortal.^(BB)
13 Why do you complain to him^(BC)
    that he responds to no one’s words^[d]?^(BD)
14 For God does speak^(BE)—now one way, now another^(BF)—
    though no one perceives it.^(BG)
15 In a dream,^(BH) in a vision^(BI) of the night,^(BJ)
    when deep sleep^(BK) falls on people
    as they slumber in their beds,
¹⁶ he may speak^(BL) in their ears
    and terrify them^(BM) with warnings,^(BN)
17 to turn them from wrongdoing
    and keep them from pride,^(BO)
18 to preserve them from the pit,^(BP)
    their lives from perishing by the sword.^[e](BQ)

¹⁹ “Or someone may be chastened^(BR) on a bed of pain^(BS)
    with constant distress in their bones,^(BT)
20 so that their body finds food^(BU) repulsive
    and their soul loathes the choicest meal.^(BV)
21 Their flesh wastes away to nothing,
    and their bones,^(BW) once hidden, now stick out.^(BX)
22 They draw near to the pit,^(BY)
    and their life to the messengers of death.^[f](BZ)
23 Yet if there is an angel at their side,
    a messenger,^(CA) one out of a thousand,
    sent to tell them how to be upright,^(CB)
24 and he is gracious to that person and says to God,
    ‘Spare them from going down to the pit;^(CC)
    I have found a ransom for them^(CD)—
²⁵ let their flesh be renewed^(CE) like a child’s;
    let them be restored as in the days of their youth’^(CF)—
²⁶ then that person can pray to God and find favor with him,^(CG)
    they will see God’s face and shout for joy;^(CH)
    he will restore them to full well-being.^(CI)
27 And they will go to others and say,
    ‘I have sinned,^(CJ) I have perverted what is right,^(CK)
    but I did not get what I deserved.^(CL)
28 God has delivered^(CM) me from going down to the pit,^(CN)
    and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’^(CO)

²⁹ “God does all these things to a person^(CP)—
    twice, even three times^(CQ)—
³⁰ to turn them back^(CR) from the pit,^(CS)
    that the light of life^(CT) may shine on them.^(CU)

³¹ “Pay attention, Job, and listen^(CV) to me;^(CW)
    be silent,^(CX) and I will speak.
³² If you have anything to say, answer me;^(CY)
    speak up, for I want to vindicate you.^(CZ)
33 But if not, then listen to me;^(DA)
    be silent,^(DB) and I will teach you wisdom.^(DC)”