18 to preserve them from the pit,their lives from perishing by the sword.
19 ‘Or someone may be chastened on a bed of painwith constant distress in their bones,
20 so that their body finds food repulsiveand their soul loathes the choicest meal.
21 Their flesh wastes away to nothing,and their bones, once hidden, now stick out.
22 They draw near to the pit,and their life to the messengers of death.
23 Yet if there is an angel at their side,a messenger, one out of a thousand,sent to tell them how to be upright,
24 and he is gracious to that person and says to God,“Spare them from going down to the pit;I have found a ransom for them –