Job 16
Job’s Reply to Eliphaz1
16:2 “I have heard many things like these before.
What miserable comforters2 are you all!
16:3 Will3 there be an end to your4 windy words?5
Or what provokes6 you that you answer?7
16:4 I also could speak8 like you,
if9 you were in my place;
I could pile up10 words against you
and I could shake my head at you.11
16:5 But12 I would strengthen13 you with my words;14
comfort from my lips would bring15 you relief.
Abandonment by God and Man
16:6 “But16 if I speak, my pain is not relieved,17
and if I refrain from speaking
– how18 much of it goes away?
16:7 Surely now he19 has worn me out,
you have devastated my entire household.
16:8 You have seized me,20
and it21 has become a witness;
my leanness22 has risen up against me
and testifies against me.
16:9 His23 anger has torn me24 and persecuted25 me;
he has gnashed at me with his teeth;
my adversary locks26 his eyes on me.
16:10 People27 have opened their mouths against me,
they have struck my cheek in scorn;28
they unite29 together against me.
16:11 God abandons me to evil30 men,31
and throws32 me into the hands of wicked men.
16:12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me.33
He has seized me by the neck and crushed me.34
He has made me his target;
16:13 his archers35 surround me.
Without pity36 he pierces37 my kidneys
and pours out my gall38 on the ground.
16:14 He breaks through against me, time and time again;39
he rushes40 against me like a warrior.
16:15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,41
and buried42 my horn43 in the dust;
16:16 my face is reddened44 because of weeping,45
and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness,46
16:17 although47 there is no violence in my hands
and my prayer is pure.
An Appeal to God as Witness
16:18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,48
nor let there be a secret49 place for my cry.
16:19 Even now my witness50 is in heaven;
my advocate51 is on high.
16:20 My intercessor is my friend52
as my eyes pour out53 tears to God;
16:21 and54 he contends with God on behalf of man
as a man55 pleads56 for his friend.
16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few,57
and then I will go on the way of no return.58