Job 16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 16
Job’s Fourth Reply. 1 Then Job answered and said:
2 I have heard this sort of thing many times.(A)
Troublesome comforters, all of you!
3 Is there no end to windy words?
What sickness makes you rattle on?
4 I also could talk as you do,
were you in my place.
I could declaim over you,
or wag my head at you;
5 I could strengthen you with talk,
with mere chatter give relief.
6 If I speak, my pain is not relieved;
if I stop speaking, nothing changes.
7 But now he has exhausted me;
you have stunned all my companions.
8 You[a] have shriveled me up; it is a witness,
my gauntness rises up to testify against me;
9 His wrath tears and assails me,
he gnashes his teeth against me;
My enemy looks daggers at me.
10 They gape at me with their mouths;
They strike me on the cheek with insults;
they are all enlisted against me.
11 God has given me over to the impious;
into the hands of the wicked he has cast me.
12 I was in peace, but he dislodged me,
seized me by the neck, dashed me to pieces.
He has set me up for a target;
13 his arrows strike me from all directions.
He pierces my sides without mercy,
pours out my gall upon the ground.
14 He pierces me, thrust upon thrust,
rushes at me like a warrior.
15 I have sewn sackcloth on my skin,
laid my horn low in the dust.
16 My face is inflamed with weeping,
darkness covers my eyes,
17 Although my hands are free from violence,
and my prayer sincere.
18 O earth, do not cover my blood,
nor let my outcry come to rest![b]
19 Even now my witness[c] is in heaven,
my advocate is on high.
20 My friends it is who wrong me;
before God my eyes shed tears,
21 That justice may be done for a mortal with God:
as for a man with his neighbor.
22 For my years are numbered,
and I go the road of no return.
Footnotes
- 16:8 You: God. Job then describes in vv. 9–17 the savage treatment that he has received from God.
- 16:18 As the exposed blood of those who were unjustly slain cries to heaven for vengeance (Gn 4:10; Ez 24:6–9), so Job’s sufferings demand redress.
- 16:19 Witness: refers perhaps to God (is Job appealing to God against God?), or to a mediator (cf. 9:33), or to a personification of Job’s prayer.
Job 16
English Standard Version
Job Replies: Miserable Comforters Are You
16 Then Job answered and said:
2 “I have heard (A)many such things;
(B)miserable comforters are you all.
3 Shall (C)windy words have an end?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
4 I also could speak as you do,
if you were in my place;
I could join words together against you
and (D)shake my head at you.
5 I could strengthen 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 forbear, how much of it leaves me?
7 Surely now God has worn me out;
(E)he has[a] made desolate all my company.
8 And he has shriveled me up,
which is (F)a witness against me,
and my (G)leanness has risen up against me;
it testifies to my face.
9 He has (H)torn me in his wrath (I)and hated me;
he has (J)gnashed his teeth at me;
my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.
10 Men have (K)gaped at me with their mouth;
they have (L)struck me insolently on the cheek;
they (M)mass themselves together against me.
11 God gives me up to the ungodly
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease, and he broke me apart;
he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his (N)target;
13 his (O)archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys (P)and does not spare;
he (Q)pours out my gall on the ground.
14 He breaks me with (R)breach upon breach;
he (S)runs upon me like a warrior.
15 I have sewed (T)sackcloth upon my skin
and have laid (U)my strength (V)in the dust.
16 My face is red with weeping,
and on my eyelids is (W)deep darkness,
17 although there is no (X)violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.
18 “O earth, (Y)cover not my blood,
and let my (Z)cry find no resting place.
19 Even now, behold, my (AA)witness is in heaven,
and he who testifies for me is (AB)on high.
20 My friends (AC)scorn me;
my eye pours out tears to God,
21 that he would (AD)argue the case of a man with God,
as[b] a son of man does with his neighbor.
22 For when a few years have come
I shall go the way (AE)from which I shall not return.
Job 16
King James Version
16 Then Job answered and said,
2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.
3 Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?
4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.
5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.
6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?
7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.
8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.
9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.
11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.
13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.
14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.
15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.
16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
17 Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.
18 O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.
19 Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.
20 My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.
21 O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
22 When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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