Job 16

Job

Then Job replied:

“I have heard many things like these;

you are miserable comforters,^a all of you!^b

Will your long-winded speeches never end?^c

What ails you that you keep on arguing?^d

I also could speak like you,

if you were in my place;

I could make fine speeches against you

and shake my head^e at you.

But my mouth would encourage you;

comfort^f from my lips would bring you relief.^g

“Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;

and if I refrain, it does not go away.^h

Surely, God, you have worn me out;ⁱ

you have devastated my entire household.^j

You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;

my gauntness^k rises up and testifies against me.^l

God assails me and tears^m me in his angerⁿ

and gnashes his teeth at me;^o

my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.^p

People open their mouths^q to jeer at me;^r

they strike my cheek^s in scorn

and unite together against me.^t

God has turned me over to the ungodly

and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.^u

All was well with me, but he shattered me;

he seized me by the neck and crushed me.^v

He has made me his target;^w

his archers surround me.^x

Without pity, he pierces^y my kidneys

and spills my gall on the ground.

Again and again^z he bursts upon me;

he rushes at me like a warrior.^a

“I have sewed sackcloth^b over my skin

and buried my brow in the dust.^c

My face is red with weeping,^d

dark shadows ring my eyes;^e

yet my hands have been free of violence^f

and my prayer is pure.^g

“Earth, do not cover my blood;^h

may my cryⁱ never be laid to rest!^j

Even now my witness^k is in heaven;^l

my advocate is on high.^m

My intercessorⁿ is my friend^o

as my eyes pour out^p tears^q to God;

on behalf of a human being he pleads^r with God

as one pleads for a friend.

“Only a few years will pass

before I take the path of no return.^s