Job 16:8–17:9

⁸You have shriveled me up ^c—it has become a witness;

My frailty rises up against me and testifies to my face.

⁹His anger tears at me, and He harasses ^dme.

He gnashes His teeth at me.

My enemy pierces me with His eyes.

¹⁰They open their mouths against me

and strike my cheeks with contempt; ^e

they join themselves together against me.

¹¹God hands me over to unjust men; ^f

He throws me into the hands of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, but He shattered me;

He seized me by the scruff of the neck

and smashed me to pieces.

He set me up as His target; ^g

¹³His archers ^hsurround me.

He pierces my kidneys without mercy

and pours my bile on the ground.

¹⁴He breaks through my defenses again and again; ⁱ

He charges at me like a warrior. ^j

¹⁵I have sewn sackcloth over my skin;

I have buried my strength ^kin the dust. ^l

¹⁶My face has grown red with weeping,

and darkness ^mcovers my eyes,

¹⁷although my hands are free from violence ⁿ

and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸Earth, do not cover my blood;

may my cry for help find no resting place. ^o

¹⁹Even now my witness is in heaven,

and my advocate is in the heights! ^p

²⁰My friends scoff at me

as I weep before God.

²¹I wish that someone might arbitrate

between a man and God ^q

just as a man pleads for his friend.

²²For only a few years will pass

before I go the way of no return.

17My spirit is broken.

My days are extinguished.

A graveyard ^rawaits me.

²Surely mockers surround ^sme

and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion. ^t

³Make arrangements! Put up security for me. ^uv

Who else will be my sponsor? ^w

⁴You have closed their minds to understanding,

therefore You will not honor them.

⁵If a man informs on his friends for a price,

the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶He has made me an object of scorn to the people;

I have become a man people spit at. ^xy

⁷My eyes have grown dim from grief,

and my whole body has become but a shadow.

⁸The upright are appalled ^zat this,

and the innocent are roused against the godless.

⁹Yet the righteous person will hold to his way,

and the one whose hands are clean ^awill grow stronger.