Read the Bible

¹ "But now, hear my speech, O Job,
    and listen to all my words.
² See, I open my mouth;
    the tongue in my mouth speaks.
³ My words declare the uprightness of my heart,
    and what my lips know they speak sincerely.
⁴ The spirit of God has made me,
    and the breath of the Almighty^[a] gives me life.
⁵ Answer me, if you can;
    set your words in order before me; take your stand.
⁶ See, before God I am as you are;
    I too was formed from a piece of clay.
⁷ No fear of me need terrify you;
    my pressure will not be heavy on you.

⁸ "Surely, you have spoken in my hearing,
    and I have heard the sound of your words.
⁹ You say, ‘I am clean, without transgression;
    I am pure, and there is no iniquity in me.
¹⁰ Look, he finds occasions against me,
    he counts me as his enemy;
¹¹ he puts my feet in the stocks,
    and watches all my paths.'

¹² "But in this you are not right. I will answer you:
    God is greater than any mortal.
¹³ Why do you contend against him,
    saying, ‘He will answer none of my^[b] words'?
¹⁴ For God speaks in one way,
    and in two, though people do not perceive it.
¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night,
    when deep sleep falls on mortals,
    while they slumber on their beds,
¹⁶ then he opens their ears,
    and terrifies them with warnings,
¹⁷ that he may turn them aside from their deeds,
    and keep them from pride,
¹⁸ to spare their souls from the Pit,
    their lives from traversing the River.
¹⁹ They are also chastened with pain upon their beds,
    and with continual strife in their bones,
²⁰ so that their lives loathe bread,
    and their appetites dainty food.
²¹ Their flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen;
    and their bones, once invisible, now stick out.
²² Their souls draw near the Pit,
    and their lives to those who bring death.
²³ Then, if there should be for one of them an angel,
    a mediator, one of a thousand,
    one who declares a person upright,
²⁴ and he is gracious to that person, and says,
    ‘Deliver him from going down into the Pit;
    I have found a ransom;
²⁵ let his flesh become fresh with youth;
    let him return to the days of his youthful vigor';
²⁶ then he prays to God, and is accepted by him,
    he comes into his presence with joy,
and God^[c] repays him for his righteousness.
²⁷     That person sings to others and says,
‘I sinned, and perverted what was right,
    and it was not paid back to me.
²⁸ He has redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
    and my life shall see the light.'

²⁹ "God indeed does all these things,
    twice, three times, with mortals,
³⁰ to bring back their souls from the Pit,
    so that they may see the light of life.^[d]
31 Pay heed, Job, listen to me;
    be silent, and I will speak.
³² If you have anything to say, answer me;
    speak, for I desire to justify you.
³³ If not, listen to me;
    be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."