Job 16
Good News Translation
16 1-2 I have heard words like that before;
the comfort you give is only torment.
3 Are you going to keep on talking forever?
Do you always have to have the last word?
4 If you were in my place and I in yours,
I could say everything you are saying.
I could shake my head wisely
and drown you with a flood of words.
5 I could strengthen you with advice
and keep talking to comfort you.
6 But nothing I say helps,
and being silent does not calm my pain.
7 You have worn me out, God;
you have let my family be killed.
8 You have seized me; you are my enemy.
I am skin and bones,
and people take that as proof of my guilt.[a]
9 In anger God tears me limb from limb;
he glares at me with hate.
10 People sneer at me;
they crowd around me and slap my face.
11 God has handed me over to evil people.
12 I was living in peace,
but God took me by the throat
and battered me and crushed me.
God uses me for target practice
13 and shoots arrows at me from every side—
arrows that pierce and wound me;
and even then he shows no pity.
14 He wounds me again and again;
he attacks like a soldier gone mad with hate.
15 I mourn and wear clothes made of sackcloth,
and I sit here in the dust defeated.
16 I have cried until my face is red,
and my eyes are swollen and circled with shadows,
17 but I am not guilty of any violence,
and my prayer to God is sincere.
18 O Earth, don't hide the wrongs done to me!
Don't let my call for justice be silenced!
19 (A)There is someone in heaven
to stand up for me and take my side.
20 My friends scorn me;
my eyes pour out tears to God.
21 I want someone to plead with God for me,
as one pleads for a friend.
22 My years are passing now,
and I walk the road of no return.
Footnotes
- Job 16:8 Verses 7-8 in Hebrew are unclear.
Job 16
Names of God Bible
Job Speaks: My Friends Do Not Help Ease My Pain
16 Then Job replied to his friends,
2 “I have heard many things like this before.
You are all pathetic at comforting me.
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?
What disturbs you that you keep on answering me?
4 I, too, could speak like you
if we could trade places.
I could string words together against you
and shake my head at you.
5 I could encourage you with my mouth,
and my quivering lips could ease your pain.
6 If I speak, my pain is not eased.
If I stop talking, how much of it will go away?
7 “But now, God has worn me out.
You, God, have destroyed everyone who supports me.
8 You have shriveled me up, which itself is a witness against me.
My frail body rises up and testifies against me.
Job Describes What God Has Done to Him
9 “God’s anger tore me apart and attacked me.
He gritted his teeth at me.
My opponent looked sharply at me.
10 People gaped at me with wide-open mouths.
In scorn they slapped my cheeks.
They united against me.
11 El handed me over to unjust people
and threw me into the hands of wicked people.
12 I was at ease, and he shattered me.
He grabbed me by the back of the neck and smashed my skull.
He set me up as his target,
13 and his archers surrounded me.
He slashes open my kidneys without mercy
and spills my blood[a] on the ground.
14 He inflicts wound after wound on me.
He lunges at me like a warrior.
15 “I have sewn sackcloth over my skin,
and I have thrown my strength in the dust.
16 My face is red from crying,
and dark shadows encircle my eyes,
17 although my hands have done nothing violent,
and my prayer is sincere.
Job Appeals His Case to Heaven
18 “Earth, don’t cover my blood.
Don’t ever let my cry for justice be stopped.
19 Even now, look! My witness is in heaven,
and the one who testifies for me is above,
20 the spokesman for my thoughts.[b]
My eyes drip with tears to Eloah
22 because in a few short years I will take the path of no return.[c]
21 But my witness will plead for a human in front of Eloah.
The Son of Man will plead for his friend!
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.