5. Listen to me and answer if you can. Get your arguments ready to face me.
6. You and I are the same before God. He used clay to make us both.
7. Don’t be afraid of me. I will not be hard on you.
8. “But, Job, I heard what you said. These were your very words:
9. ‘I am pure and innocent; I did nothing wrong; I am not guilty!
10. But God found an excuse to attack me. He treats me like an enemy.
11. He put chains on my feet and watches everything I do.’
12. “But you are wrong about this, and I will prove it to you. God knows more than any of us.
13. You are arguing with God! Why do you think he should explain everything to you?
14. But maybe God does explain what he does but speaks in ways that people don’t understand.
15. He may speak in a dream, or in a vision at night, when people are in a deep sleep lying in their beds.
16. He may whisper something in their ear, and they are frightened when they hear his warnings.
17. God warns people to stop them from doing wrong and to keep them from becoming proud.
18. He does this to save them from death. He wants to keep them from being destroyed.
19. “Or those who are sick in bed might be suffering punishment from God. The pain that makes their bones ache might be a warning from him.
20. They feel so bad they cannot eat. Even the best food makes them sick.
21. Their bodies might waste away until they become thin and all their bones stick out.