Job 16
16
Job’s response
1Then Job answered:
2I’ve heard many things like these.
All of you are sorry comforters.
3Will windy talk ever cease;
what bothers you that you must argue?
4In your situation I could speak like you;
I could put words together to oppose you,
shake my head over you.
5I could heap up words, strengthen you with my speech;
my trembling lips would be held in check.
6If I speak, my pain is not eased;
if I hold back, what have I lost?
The innocent are God’s targets
7Now God has surely worn me out.
You have destroyed my entire group,
8seized me, which became grounds for an accusation.#16.8 Heb uncertain
My leanness rises to bear witness against me.
9His anger tears me and afflicts me;
he slashes at me with his teeth.
My enemy pierces me with his eyes.
10They open their mouths at me
and strike my cheek in a taunt;
they gang up on me.
11God delivers me to a criminal
and forces me into the hands of the wicked.
12I 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.
13His archers surround me;
he cuts my kidneys open without pity and doesn’t care,
pours my gall on the ground,
14bursts me open over and over,
runs against me like a strong man.
15I’ve sewed rough cloth over my skin
and buried my dignity in the dust.
16My face is red from crying,
and dark gloom hangs on my eyelids.
17But there is no violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.
Lingering hope
18Earth, don’t cover my blood;
let my outcry never cease.
19Surely now my witness stands in heaven;
my advocate is on high;
20my go-between, my friend.#16.20 Go-between and friend are plural in Heb.
While my eyes drip tears to God,
21let him plead with God for a human being,
like a person pleads for a friend.
22A number of years will surely pass,
and then I’ll walk a path that I won’t return.
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Job 16: CEB
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