Hiob 16 | New International Version

Job

1 Then Job replied:

2 ‘I have heard many things like these; you are miserable comforters, all of you!

3 Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing?

4 I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you.

5 But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

6 ‘Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved; and if I refrain, it does not go away.

7 Surely, God, you have worn me out; you have devastated my entire household.

8 You have shrivelled me up – and it has become a witness; my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.

9 God assails me and tears me in his anger and gnashes his teeth at me; my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.

10 People open their mouths to jeer at me; they strike my cheek in scorn and unite together against me.

11 God has turned me over to the ungodly and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.

12 All was well with me, but he shattered me; he seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target;

13 his archers surround me. Without pity, he pierces my kidneys and spills my gall on the ground.

14 Again and again he bursts upon me; he rushes at me like a warrior.

15 ‘I have sewed sackcloth over my skin and buried my brow in the dust.

16 My face is red with weeping, dark shadows ring my eyes;

17 yet my hands have been free of violence and my prayer is pure.

18 ‘Earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry never be laid to rest!

19 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.

20 My intercessor is my friend* as my eyes pour out tears to God;

21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.

22 ‘Only a few years will pass before I take the path of no return.

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English Standard Version

Job Replies: Miserable Comforters Are You

1 Then Job answered and said:

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

3 Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?

4 I 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.

5 I 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?

7 Surely now God has worn me out; he has* made desolate all my company.

8 And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me, and my leanness has risen up against me; it testifies to my face.

9 He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.

10 Men have gaped at me with their mouth; they have struck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me.

11 God gives me up to the ungodly and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

12 I 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;

13 his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground.

14 He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs upon me like a warrior.

15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and have laid my strength in the dust.

16 My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness,

17 although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.

18 “O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place.

19 Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high.

20 My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God,

21 that he would argue the case of a man with God, as* a son of man does with his neighbor.

22 For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return.

The ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®) copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV^® Text Edition: 2016. The ESV^® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. The ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.