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"But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say.
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I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue.
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My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know.
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The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath the Almighty gives me life.
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Answer me then, if you can; prepare yourself and confront me.
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I am just like you before God; I too have been taken from clay.
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No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy upon you.
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"But you have said in my hearing - I heard the very words -
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'I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt.
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Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.
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He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.'
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"But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than man.
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Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words?
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For God does speak - now one way, now another -
though man may not perceive it.
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In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deeo sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds,
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he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings,
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to turn man from wrongdoing and keep from pride,
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to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.
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Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones,
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so that his very being finds food repulsive and his soul loathes the choicest meal.
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His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.
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His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
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"Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator,
one out of 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 a ransom for him' -
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then his flesh is renewed like a child's; it is restored as in the days of his youth.
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He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face
and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state.
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Then he comes to men and says, 'I sinned,
and perverted what was right, but 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 enjoy the light.'
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"God does all these things to a man - twice, even three times -
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to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him.
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"Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.
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If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want you to be cleared.
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But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."
