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Job’s Fifth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

16 Then Job spoke again:

“I have heard all this before.
    What miserable comforters you are!
Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air?
    What makes you keep on talking?
I could say the same things if you were in my place.
    I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.
But if it were me, I would encourage you.
    I would try to take away your grief.
Instead, I suffer if I defend myself,
    and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.

“O God, you have ground me down
    and devastated my family.
As if to prove I have sinned, you’ve reduced me to skin and bones.
    My gaunt flesh testifies against me.
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

  1. 16:13 Hebrew my gall.

Chapter 16

Job’s Fourth Reply. Then Job answered and said:

I have heard this sort of thing many times.(A)
    Troublesome comforters, all of you!
Is there no end to windy words?
    What sickness makes you rattle on?
I also could talk as you do,
    were you in my place.
I could declaim over you,
    or wag my head at you;
I could strengthen you with talk,
    with mere chatter give relief.
If I speak, my pain is not relieved;
    if I stop speaking, nothing changes.
But now he has exhausted me;
    you have stunned all my companions.
You[a] have shriveled me up; it is a witness,
    my gauntness rises up to testify against me;
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

  1. 16:8 You: God. Job then describes in vv. 9–17 the savage treatment that he has received from God.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

Cuarta respuesta de Job

16 Job le contestó a Elifaz:

«Todo lo que ustedes han dicho
lo he escuchado muchas veces;
¡y no fue ningún consuelo!
¿Qué es lo que tanto les molesta?
¿Por qué no me dejan en paz?
4-5 Si estuvieran en mi lugar,
verían que no necesito tanta palabrería.
¡Lo que necesito es que me animen,
que calmen mi sufrimiento!

»¿Qué se gana con hablar?
¡Mi dolor no me deja
ni tampoco se calma!
Dios ha acabado conmigo
y con toda mi familia.
Me tiene arrinconado,
se levanta y me condena;
lo que ha dejado de mí
es sólo un montón de huesos.

»Tan enojado está Dios conmigo
que me persigue y me despedaza;
me considera su enemigo.
Me mira con rabia
y me muestra los dientes.
10 Mis enemigos
se han puesto en mi contra;
se burlan de mí y me dan bofetadas.
11 Dios me dejó caer
en manos de gente malvada.
12-14 Antes, yo vivía tranquilo;
pero Dios me agarró por el cuello
y me hizo objeto de sus ataques.
Se lanzó contra mí como un guerrero
y me abrió una herida tras otra,
destrozándome sin ninguna compasión.
¡Regados por el suelo quedaron
mi hígado y mis riñones!

15 »Me vestí con ropas ásperas,
para mostrar mi angustia;
¡mi orgullo ha quedado por el suelo!
16 De tanto llorar tengo roja la cara;
mis ojos muestran profundas ojeras.
17 ¿Por qué no aceptan
que no soy un malvado,
y que es sincera mi oración?

18 »Si acaso muero,
espero que la tierra
no oculte mi inocencia.
19 Yo sé que en el cielo
tengo un testigo a mi favor.
Allí sin duda, está mi abogado.
20 Ante Dios lloro amargamente,
porque mis amigos se burlan de mí.
21 Dios me defenderá
como quien defiende a un amigo.
22 En unos cuantos años
estaré en la tumba, y ya no volveré.

Job

16 Then Job replied:

“I have heard many things like these;
    you are miserable comforters,(A) all of you!(B)
Will your long-winded speeches never end?(C)
    What ails you that you keep on arguing?(D)
I also could speak like you,
    if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
    and shake my head(E) at you.
But my mouth would encourage you;
    comfort(F) from my lips would bring you relief.(G)

“Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
    and if I refrain, it does not go away.(H)
Surely, God, you have worn me out;(I)
    you have devastated my entire household.(J)
You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;
    my gauntness(K) rises up and testifies against me.(L)
God assails me and tears(M) me in his anger(N)
    and gnashes his teeth at me;(O)
    my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.(P)
10 People open their mouths(Q) to jeer at me;(R)
    they strike my cheek(S) in scorn
    and unite together against me.(T)
11 God has turned me over to the ungodly
    and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.(U)
12 All was well with me, but he shattered me;
    he seized me by the neck and crushed me.(V)
He has made me his target;(W)
13     his archers surround me.(X)
Without pity, he pierces(Y) my kidneys
    and spills my gall on the ground.
14 Again and again(Z) he bursts upon me;
    he rushes at me like a warrior.(AA)

15 “I have sewed sackcloth(AB) over my skin
    and buried my brow in the dust.(AC)
16 My face is red with weeping,(AD)
    dark shadows ring my eyes;(AE)
17 yet my hands have been free of violence(AF)
    and my prayer is pure.(AG)

18 “Earth, do not cover my blood;(AH)
    may my cry(AI) never be laid to rest!(AJ)
19 Even now my witness(AK) is in heaven;(AL)
    my advocate is on high.(AM)
20 My intercessor(AN) is my friend[a](AO)
    as my eyes pour out(AP) tears(AQ) to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads(AR) with God
    as one pleads for a friend.

22 “Only a few years will pass
    before I take the path of no return.(AS)

Footnotes

  1. Job 16:20 Or My friends treat me with scorn

16 Then Job answered and said,

I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.

Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?

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.

But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.

Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?

But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.

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.

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.