Job 16:1-13 ▼

1 Then Job answered and said,

2 “I have heard many such things; Wearisome and miserable comforters are you all.

3 “Is there no end to [your futile] words of wind? Or what plagues you [so much] that you [so boldly] answer [me like this]?

4 “I also could speak like you, If you were in my place; I could compose and join words together against you And shake my head at you.

5 “[But instead] I could strengthen and encourage you with [the words of] my mouth, And the consolation and solace of my lips would soothe your suffering and lessen your anguish.

6 “If I speak [to you miserable comforters], my pain is not relieved; And if I refrain [from speaking], what [pain or anguish] leaves me?

7 “But now God has exhausted me. You [O Lord] have destroyed all my family and my household.

8 “You have taken a firm hold on me and have shriveled me up, It has become a witness [against me]; And my leanness [and infirmity] rises up [as evidence] against me, It testifies to my face [about my guilt].

9 “His wrath has torn me and hunted me down, He has gnashed at me with his teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze and glares [with piercing eyes] at me.

10 “They have gaped at me with their mouths, With contempt they have struck me on the cheek; They massed themselves together [and conspired] against me.

11 “God hands me over to criminals And tosses me [headlong] into the hands of the wicked.

12 “I was [living] at ease, but He crushed me and broke me apart, And He has seized me by the neck and has shaken me to pieces; He has also set me up as His target.

13 “His arrows surround me. He pierces my kidneys (vital organs) without mercy; He pours out my gall on the ground.