Job 16

Job Says Friends Are Sorry Comforters

1 Then Job ^{▼▼ Lit answered and said}answered, 2 “I have heard many such things;
^{▼▼ Lit Comforters of trouble
,} ^cSorry comforters are you all.
3 “Is there no limit to ^dwindy words?
Or what plagues you that you answer?
4 “I too could speak like you,
If ^{▼▼ Lit your soul were in place of my soul}I were in your place.
I could compose words against you
And ^fshake my head at you.
5 “I could strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips could lessen your pain.

Job Says God Shattered Him

6 “If I speak, ^gmy pain is not lessened,
And if I hold back, what has left me?
7 “But now He has ^hexhausted me;
You have laid ⁱwaste all my company.
8 “You have shriveled me up,
^jIt has become a witness;
And my ^kleanness rises up against me,
It testifies to my face.
9 “His anger has ^ltorn me and ^{▼▼ Lit borne a grudge against me}hunted me down,
He has ⁿgnashed at me with His teeth;
My ^oadversary ^{▼▼ Lit sharpens his eyes}glares at me.
10 “They have ^qgaped at me with their mouth,
They have ^{▼▼ Lit struck
,} ^sslapped me on the cheek with contempt;
They have ^tmassed themselves against me.
11 “God hands me over to ruffians
And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.
12 “I was at ease, but ^uHe shattered me,
And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His ^vtarget.
13 “His ^warrows surround me.
Without mercy He splits my kidneys open;
He pours out ^xmy gall on the ground.
14 “He ^ybreaks through me with breach after breach;
He ^zruns at me like a warrior.
15 “I have sewed ^aasackcloth over my skin
And ^abthrust my horn in the dust.
16 “My face is flushed from ^acweeping,
^adAnd deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17 Although there is no ^aeviolence in my hands,
And ^afmy prayer is pure.

18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no resting place for my cry.
19 “Even now, behold, ^agmy witness is in heaven,
And my ^{▼▼ Or witness}advocate is ^aion high.
20 “My friends are my scoffers;
^ajMy eye ^{▼▼ Or drips}weeps to God.
21 “O that a man might plead with God
As a man with his neighbor!
22 “For when a few years are past,
I shall go the way ^alof no return.