Job 16
1 Forsothe Joob answeride, and seide, Y `herde ofte siche thingis;
Job replied [to Eliphaz and the others: ]
2 alle ye ben heuy coumfortouris.
“I have heard things like that before; all of you, [instead of helping me, ] are only causing me to feel more miserable.
3 Whether wordis ful of wynd schulen haue an ende? ether ony thing is diseseful to thee, if thou spekist?
Will your speeches, which are only hot air, never end [RHQ]? Eliphaz, what bothers/irritates you so much that you continue replying to me?
4 Also Y myyte speke thingis lijk to you, and `Y wolde, that youre soule were for my soule; and Y wolde coumfort you by wordis, and Y wolde moue myn heed on you;
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].
5 Y wolde make you stronge bi my mouth, and Y wolde moue lippis as sparynge you.
But, [unlike all of you, ] with what I said [MTY] I would encourage you and try to cause your pain to be less.
6 But what schal Y do? If Y speke, my sorewe restith not; and if Y am stille, it goith not awei fro me.
“But now, if I talk, my pain does not decrease, and if I am silent, my pain still certainly does not [RHQ] go away.
7 But now my sorewe hath oppressid me, and alle my lymes ben dryuun in to nouyt.
God has now taken away all my strength, and he has destroyed my family.
8 My ryuelyngis seien witnessyng ayens me, and a fals spekere is reisid ayens my face, and ayenseith me.
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].
9 He gaderide togidere his woodnesse in me, and he manaasside me, and gnastide ayens me with his teeth; myn enemye bihelde me with ferdful iyen.
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.
10 Thei openyden her mouthis on me, and thei seiden schenschip, and smytiden my cheke; and thei ben fillid with my peynes.
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.
11 God hath closid me togidere at the wickid, and hath youe me to the hondis of wickid men.
[It is as though] God has handed me over to ungodly people and turned me over to the wicked [DOU].
12 Y thilke riche man and famouse sum tyme, am al to brokun sudeynli; `he helde my nol; he hath broke me, and hath set me as in to a signe.
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;
13 He hath cumpasside me with hise speris, he woundide togidere my leendis; he sparide not, and schedde out myn entrails in to the erthe.
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.
14 He beet me with wounde on wounde; he as a giaunt felde in on me.
[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].
15 Y sewide togidere a sak on my skyn; and Y hilide my fleisch with aische.
[“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.
16 My face bolnyde of wepynge, and myn iyeliddis wexiden derke.
My face is red because I have cried very much, and there are dark circles around my eyes.
17 Y suffride these thingis with out wickidnesse of myn hond, `that is, werk, whanne Y hadde cleene preieris to God.
[All this has happened to me] even though I have not acted violently [toward anyone], and I [always] pray sincerely/honestly [to God].
18 Erthe, hile thou not my blood, and my cry fynde not in thee a place of hidyng.
[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.
19 `For, lo! my witnesse is in heuene; and the knowere of my consience is in hiye places.
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.
20 A! my frendis, ful of wordis, myn iye droppith to God.
My [three] friends scorn/ridicule me, but my eyes are full of tears [while I cry out] to God.
21 And `Y wolde, that a man were demed so with God, as the sone of man is demed with his felowe.
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.
22 `For lo! schorte yeeris passen, and Y go a path, bi which Y schal not turne ayen.
[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.”
