Job 16:1-22
16 Job said in reply:
2 “I have heard many things like these before.
All of you are troublesome comforters!+
3 Is there an end to empty* words?
What provokes you to answer this way?
4 I could also speak as you do.
If you were in my place,*I could make persuasive speeches against youAnd shake my head at you.+
5 Instead, though, I would strengthen you with the words of my mouth,And the consolation of my lips would bring relief.+
6 If I speak, my own pain is not relieved,+And if I stop speaking, how much is my pain reduced?
7 But now he has made me weary;+He has devastated my whole household.*
8 You also seize me, and it has become a witness,So that my own skinniness rises up and testifies to my face.
9 His anger has torn me to pieces, and he harbors animosity against me.+
He grinds his teeth against me.
My adversary pierces me with his eyes.+
10 They have opened their mouth wide against me,+And they have scornfully struck my cheeks;In large numbers they gather against me.+
11 God hands me over to young boys,And he thrusts me into the hands of the wicked.+
12 I was untroubled, but he shattered me;+He grabbed me by the back of the neck and crushed me;Then he set me up as his target.
13 His archers surround me;+He pierces my kidneys+ and feels no compassion;He pours out my gall on the earth.
14 He breaks through against me with breach after breach;He rushes at me like a warrior.
15 I have sewn sackcloth together to cover my skin,+And I have buried my dignity* in the dust.+
16 My face is red from weeping,+And on my eyelids is deep shadow,*
17 Although my hands have done no violenceAnd my prayer is pure.
18 O earth, do not cover my blood!+
And let there be no resting-place for my outcry!
19 Even now, my witness is in the heavens;The one who can testify for me is in the heights.
20 My companions ridicule me+As my eye sheds tears* to God.+
21 Let someone arbitrate between a man and God,As one would between a man and his fellow.+
22 For the years to come are few,And I will go away on the path of no return.+
Footnotes
^ Or “blustery.”
^ Or “If your soul were in place of my soul.”
^ Or “those assembling with me.”
^ Or “strength.” Lit., “horn.”
^ Or “death’s shadow.”
^ Or possibly, “looks sleeplessly.”
