Job 16
Christian Standard Bible
Job’s Reply to Eliphaz
16 Then Job answered:
2 I have heard many things like these.
You are all miserable comforters.(A)
3 Is there no end to your empty[a](B) words?
What provokes you that you continue testifying?
4 If you were in my place I could also talk like you.
I could string words together against you
and shake my head at you.
5 Instead, I would encourage you with my mouth,
and the consolation from my lips would bring relief.(C)
6 If I speak, my suffering is not relieved,
and if I hold back, does any of it leave me?
7 Surely he[b] has now exhausted me.
You have devastated my entire family.
8 You have shriveled me up[c]—it has become a witness;
my frailty rises up against me and testifies to my face.
9 His anger tears at me, and he harasses(D) me.
He gnashes his teeth at me.
My enemy pierces me with his eyes.
10 They open their mouths against me
and strike my cheeks with contempt;(E)
they join themselves together against me.
11 God hands me over to the unjust;[d]
he throws me to the wicked.
12 I 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;(F)
13 his archers[e] surround me.
He pierces my kidneys without mercy
and pours my bile on the ground.
14 He breaks through my defenses again and again;[f]
he charges at me like a warrior.(G)
15 I have sewn sackcloth over my skin;
I have buried my strength[g] in the dust.(H)
16 My face has grown red with weeping,
and darkness(I) covers my eyes,
17 although my hands are free from violence(J)
and my prayer is pure.
18 Earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry for help find no resting place.(K)
19 Even now my witness is in heaven,
and my advocate is in the heights!(L)
20 My friends scoff at me
as I weep before God.
21 I wish that someone might argue for a man with God(M)
just as anyone[h] would for a friend.
22 For only a few years will pass
before I go the way of no return.
Job 16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job Reaffirms His Innocence
16 Then Job answered:
2 “I have heard many such things;
miserable comforters are you all.
3 Have windy words no limit?
Or what provokes you that you keep on talking?(A)
4 I also could talk as you do,
if you were in my place;
I could join words together against you
and shake my head at you.(B)
5 I could encourage you with my mouth,
and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.
6 “If I speak, my pain is not assuaged,
and if I refrain, how much of it leaves me?
7 Surely now God has worn me out;
he has[a] made desolate all my company.(C)
8 And he has[b] shriveled me up,
which is a witness against me;
my leanness has risen up against me,
and it testifies to my face.(D)
9 He has torn me in his wrath and hated me;
he has gnashed his teeth at me;
my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.(E)
10 They have gaped at me with their mouths;
they have struck me insolently on the cheek;
they mass themselves together against me.(F)
11 God gives me up to the evil
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.(G)
12 I was at ease, and he broke me in two;
he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his target;(H)
13 his archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys and shows no mercy;
he pours out my gall on the ground.(I)
14 He bursts upon me again and again;
he rushes at me like a warrior.(J)
15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin
and have laid my strength in the dust.(K)
16 My face is red with weeping,
and deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17 though there is no violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.(L)
18 “O earth, do not cover my blood;
let my outcry find no resting place.(M)
19 Even now my witness is in heaven,
and my advocate is on high.(N)
20 My friends scorn me;
my eye pours out tears to God,
21 that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God,
as[c] one does for a neighbor.(O)
22 For when a few years have come,
I shall go the way from which I shall not return.(P)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.