Suffering as a Means of Restoration

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A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,

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so that he detests his bread, and his soul loathes his favorite food.

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His flesh wastes away from sight, and his hidden bones protrude.

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He draws near to the Pit, and his life to the messengers of death.

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Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in 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 his ransom,’

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then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth.

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He prays to God and finds favor; he sees God’s face and shouts for joy, and God restores His righteousness to that man.

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Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet 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 see the light.’

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Behold, all these things God does to a man, two or even three times,

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to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.