5. Answer me if you can;get yourself ready and stand before me.
6. I am just like you before God;I too am made out of clay.
7. Don’t be afraid of me;I will not be hard on you.
8. “But I heard what you have said;I heard every word.
9. You said, ‘I am pure and without sin;I am innocent and free from guilt.
10. But God has found fault with me;he considers me his enemy.
11. He locks my feet in chainsand closely watches everywhere I go.’
12. “But I tell you, you are not right in saying this,because God is greater than we are.
13. Why do you accuse Godof not answering anyone?
14. God does speak—sometimes one way and sometimes another—even though people may not understand it.
15. He speaks in a dream or a vision of the nightwhen people are in a deep sleep,lying on their beds.
16. He speaks in their earsand frightens them with warnings
17. to turn them away from doing wrongand to keep them from being proud.
18. God does this to save people from death,to keep them from dying.