Job 16

1 Job replied [to Eliphaz and the others: ]

Job replied,

2 “I have heard things like that before; all of you, [instead of helping me, ] are only causing me to feel more miserable.

“I've heard all this before. You are comforters who just cause trouble!

3 Will your speeches, which are only hot air, never end [RHQ]? Eliphaz, what bothers/irritates you so much that you continue replying to me?

Will your windy speeches never cease? What's bothering you that you have to answer me?

4 If it were you [three and not I] who were suffering, I could say the things that you are saying; I could make great speeches [to criticize/condemn you], and I could shake my head at you [to ridicule you].

I could talk like you do if you were in my place, stringing words together to criticize you, ridiculing you with a toss of my head.

5 But, [unlike all of you, ] with what I said [MTY] I would encourage you and try to cause your pain to be less.

I could build you up by my mouth speaking words; the movement of my lips would ease your pain.

6 “But now, if I talk, my pain does not decrease, and if I am silent, my pain still certainly does not [RHQ] go away.

For me, if I speak it doesn't ease my pain, and if I don't speak the pain is still there.

7 God has now taken away all my strength, and he has destroyed my family.

God, you have worn me out. You have destroyed my whole family.

8 He has shriveled me up, and people think that shows that I [am a sinner]. And people see that I am only skin and bones, and they think that proves that I [am guilty].

You have made me shrivel up, which is a witness against me; my thin body testifies against me.

9 Because God is very angry with me and hates me, [it is as though he is a wild animal that] [MET] has gnashed his teeth at me because he is my enemy.

He has torn me apart in his anger; in his hostility he has gnashed his teeth at me; my enemy pierces me with his fierce look.

10 People gape/stare at me with their mouths open [to sneer at me]; they have struck me on the face/cheek to ridicule me, and they crowd around me to threaten me.

People stare at me with their mouths wide open, they slap me on my cheeks to mock me, they crowd around me to attack me.

11 [It is as though] God has handed me over to ungodly people and turned me over to the wicked [DOU].

God has handed me over to evil people; he has thrown me into their hands.

12 Previously, I was living peacefully, but he crushed me; [it is as though] he grabbed my neck and smashed me to pieces. [It is as though] [MET] he set me up like a target;

I was living in peace and he smashed me to pieces. He grabbed me by the neck and dashed me to pieces. He set me up as his target.

13 people are surrounding me [and shooting arrows at me]. His arrows pierce my kidneys and cause the bile [from my liver] to spill onto the ground, and God does not pity me at all.

His archers surround me. His arrows pierce my kidneys without mercy. He pours out my gall on the ground.

14 [It is as though] [MET] I am a wall that he is breaking through; he rushes at me like [SIM] a soldier [attacking his enemies].

Like a wall he breaks me down, breach upon breach, rushing at me like a warrior.

15 [“Because I am mourning, ] I wear pieces of rough cloth that I have sewed together, and I sit [here] in the dirt, very depressed/discouraged.

I have sown sackcloth to cover my skin; my strength lies broken in the dust.

16 My face is red because I have cried very much, and there are dark circles around my eyes.

My face is red from crying and dark shadows surround my eyes,

17 [All this has happened to me] even though I have not acted violently [toward anyone], and I [always] pray sincerely/honestly [to God].

although I have done nothing wrong and my prayer is pure.

18 [When I die, ] I want the ground [APO] to [act as though I had been murdered and] cry out against those who killed me, and I do not want anyone to stop me while I am demanding [that God act justly toward] me.

Earth, do not cover up my blood. May my cry find no place to hide.

19 But even now, [I know that] there is someone in heaven who will testify for me, and he will say that what I have done is right.

Look, right now my witness is in heaven; the one who speaks for me is on high.

20 My [three] friends scorn/ridicule me, but my eyes are full of tears [while I cry out] to God.

My friends scorn me, but my eyes pour out tears to God.

21 I pray that [the] one [who knows what I have done] would come to plead with God for me like people plead for their friends.

I want my witness to speak for me with God as someone does for their friend.

22 [I say this because] within a few years [I will die]; I will walk along the [to the grave] from which I will never return.”

For in a few short years I shall go down that road from which I shall not return.