1Job svarede på følgende måde:2„Den slags har jeg hørt så tit. I er nogle kønne trøstere!3Er der ingen ende på din elendige tale? Kunne du ikke finde på noget bedre at sige?4Hvis I var i mit sted, og jeg var i jeres, ville jeg være fristet til at tale på samme måde. Jeg kunne have holdt en prædiken for jer og rystet på hovedet af jer.5Men jeg vil hellere være andre til opmuntring, prøve at trøste folk i deres sorg.6Jeg kan ikke trøste mig selv ved at tale, men at tie giver mig heller ingen lindring.7Gud har mast mig ned i jorden, han har udryddet hele min familie.8Min elendige tilstand ses som hans straf, det, han har gjort, som bevis på min skyld.9Hans vrede river og rusker i mig. Han skærer tænder imod mig af raseri. Hans anklagende øjne gennemborer mig.10Folk ser på mig med foragtende blikke, spottende slår de mig i ansigtet, alle rotter sig sammen imod mig.11Gud har givet mig i gudløses vold, kastet mig i kløerne på onde mennesker.12Jeg levede i fred, indtil han knuste mig. Han greb mig i nakken og slog mig fordærvet. Han stillede mig op som en skydeskive,13og hans pile kom imod mig fra alle sider. De gennemborede mine nyrer,[1] min galde flød ud på jorden.14Han huggede mig sønder og sammen, han slog mig som en kriger, der er gået amok.15Jeg sidder klædt i sæk og aske. Min stolthed ligger knust i støvet.16Mit ansigt er rødt af gråd, jeg har sørgerande under øjnene.17Men jeg ved, at jeg er uskyldig, og at min bøn er oprigtig.18Mit blod skal råbe fra jorden, min bøn om retfærdighed blive ved at runge.19Allerede nu har jeg et vidne i Himlen, en forsvarer, der taler min sag i det høje.20Han er min ven og går i forbøn for mig, for jeg kommer til Gud med tårer i øjnene.21Han bønfalder Gud på mine vegne, som et menneske forsvarer sin ven.22Jeg har ikke mange år igen, og når jeg først er gået bort, er der ingen vej tilbage.
1Then Job answered and said:2“I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all. (Job 12,3; Job 13,4)3Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? (Job 15,2)4I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you and shake my head at you. (2.Kong 19,21; Salm 22,7; Salm 109,25; Es 37,22; Jer 18,16; Klag 2,15; Matt 27,39; Mark 15,29)5I 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?7Surely now God has worn me out; he has[1] made desolate all my company. (Job 1,15; Job 15,34)8And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me, and my leanness has risen up against me; it testifies to my face. (Ruth 1,21; Job 10,17; Salm 109,24)9He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me. (Job 18,4; Job 30,21; Salm 35,16; Salm 37,12; Salm 112,10; Klag 2,16; Hos 6,1; Amos 1,11; Ap G 7,54)10Men have gaped at me with their mouth; they have struck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me. (1.Kong 22,24; Salm 3,7; Salm 22,13; Salm 35,15; Es 50,6; Klag 3,30; Mika 5,1; Ap G 23,2)11God gives me up to the ungodly and casts me into the hands of the wicked.12I 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 target; (Job 7,20; Klag 3,12)13his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground. (Job 20,25; Job 27,22; Jer 50,29; Klag 2,11)14He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs upon me like a warrior. (Job 15,26; Job 30,14)15I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and have laid my strength in the dust. (2.Sam 3,31; Salm 7,5; Salm 75,10)16My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness, (Job 3,5)17although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. (Es 53,9)18“O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place. (1.Mos 4,10; Es 26,21; Ez 24,7)19Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high. (Salm 89,37; Salm 148,1; Rom 1,9)20My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, (Job 12,5)21that he would argue the case of a man with God, as[2] a son of man does with his neighbor. (Job 31,35)22For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return. (Job 10,21)