Job 16
New Living Translation
Job’s Fifth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
16 Then Job spoke again:
2 “I have heard all this before.
What miserable comforters you are!
3 Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air?
What makes you keep on talking?
4 I could say the same things if you were in my place.
I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.
5 But if it were me, I would encourage you.
I would try to take away your grief.
6 Instead, I suffer if I defend myself,
and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.
7 “O God, you have ground me down
and devastated my family.
8 As if to prove I have sinned, you’ve reduced me to skin and bones.
My gaunt flesh testifies against me.
9 God hates me and angrily tears me apart.
He snaps his teeth at me
and pierces me with his eyes.
10 People jeer and laugh at me.
They slap my cheek in contempt.
A mob gathers against me.
11 God has handed me over to sinners.
He has tossed me into the hands of the wicked.
12 “I was living quietly until he shattered me.
He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces.
Then he set me up as his target,
13 and now his archers surround me.
His arrows pierce me without mercy.
The ground is wet with my blood.[a]
14 Again and again he smashes against me,
charging at me like a warrior.
15 I wear burlap to show my grief.
My pride lies in the dust.
16 My eyes are red with weeping;
dark shadows circle my eyes.
17 Yet I have done no wrong,
and my prayer is pure.
18 “O earth, do not conceal my blood.
Let it cry out on my behalf.
19 Even now my witness is in heaven.
My advocate is there on high.
20 My friends scorn me,
but I pour out my tears to God.
21 I need someone to mediate between God and me,
as a person mediates between friends.
22 For soon I must go down that road
from which I will never return.
Footnotes
- 16:13 Hebrew my gall.
Job 16
Common English Bible
Job’s response
16 Then Job answered:
2 I’ve heard many things like these.
All of you are sorry comforters.
3 Will windy talk ever cease;
what bothers you that you must argue?
4 In your situation I could speak like you;
I could put words together to oppose you,
shake my head over you.
5 I could heap up words, strengthen you with my speech;
my trembling lips would be held in check.
6 If I speak, my pain is not eased;
if I hold back, what have I lost?
The innocent are God’s targets
7 Now God has surely worn me out.
You have destroyed my entire group,
8 seized me, which became grounds for an accusation.[a]
My leanness rises to bear witness against me.
9 His anger tears me and afflicts me;
he slashes at me with his teeth.
My enemy pierces me with his eyes.
10 They open their mouths at me
and strike my cheek in a taunt;
they gang up on me.
11 God delivers me to a criminal
and forces me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at rest, but he shattered me,
seized me by the back of my neck,
dashed me into pieces;
he raised me up for his target.
13 His archers surround me;
he cuts my kidneys open without pity and doesn’t care,
pours my gall on the ground,
14 bursts me open over and over,
runs against me like a strong man.
15 I’ve sewed rough cloth over my skin
and buried my dignity in the dust.
16 My face is red from crying,
and dark gloom hangs on my eyelids.
17 But there is no violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.
Lingering hope
18 Earth, don’t cover my blood;
let my outcry never cease.
19 Surely now my witness stands in heaven;
my advocate is on high;
20 my go-between, my friend.[b]
While my eyes drip tears to God,
21 let him plead with God for a human being,
like a person pleads for a friend.
22 A number of years will surely pass,
and then I’ll walk a path that I won’t return.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible