UJobe 16
1 Wasephendula uJobe wathi:
Job replied [to Eliphaz and the others: ]
2 Ngizwile izinto ezinengi ezinje; lingabaduduzi abakhathazayo lina lonke.
“I have heard things like that before; all of you, [instead of helping me, ] are only causing me to feel more miserable.
3 Kuzakuba lesiphetho yini emazwini angumoya? Kumbe kuyini okulicunulayo ukuthi liphendule?
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 Lami bengingakhuluma njengani uba umphefumulo wenu ubusendaweni yomphefumulo wami; bengingabuthelela amazwi phezu kwenu, ngilinikinele ikhanda lami.
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 Bengingaliqinisa ngomlomo wami, lokunyikinyeka kwendebe zami bekungadedisaubuhlungu benu.
But, [unlike all of you, ] with what I said [MTY] I would encourage you and try to cause your pain to be less.
6 Uba ngikhuluma, ubuhlungu bami kabudedi; uba ngiyekela, kuyini okusuka kimi?
“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 Kodwa khathesi ungidinisile yena, wena uchithile yonke inhlangano yami.
God has now taken away all my strength, and he has destroyed my family.
8 Ungitshwabhanisile, kube yibufakazi, lokucaka kwami kungivukele, kuyafakaza ebusweni bami.
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 Ulaka lwakhe luyangidwengula, njalo uyangizonda; ungigedlela amazinyo akhe; isitha sami singicijisela amehlo aso.
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 Bangikhamisela umlomo wabo, bangiwakala esihlathini ngokuyangisa, bengihlanganyela ndawonye.
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 UNkulunkulu unginikele kokhohlakeleyo, wangiphosela ezandleni zababi.
[It is as though] God has handed me over to ungodly people and turned me over to the wicked [DOU].
12 Ngangonwabile, kodwa wangichoboza, wangidumela ngentamo, wangiphahlaza, wangimisa ngaba yinto yakhe yokunenjwa.
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 Abatshoki bakhe bangigombolozela; uqhekeze izinso zami, engayekeli, wachithela emhlabathini inyongo yami.
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 Wangivodloza ngokuvodlovodloza, wagijimela kimi njengeqhawe.
[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 Ngathunga isaka phezu kwesikhumba sami, ngathukuza uphondo lwami othulini.
[“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 Ubuso bami bubomvu ngokukhala, lenkotsheni zami kulethunzi lokufa,
My face is red because I have cried very much, and there are dark circles around my eyes.
17 lanxa kungekho isihluku ezandleni zami, lomkhuleko wami uhlanzekile.
[All this has happened to me] even though I have not acted violently [toward anyone], and I [always] pray sincerely/honestly [to God].
18 Mhlaba, ungaligqibeli igazi lami, lokukhala kwami kakungabi landawo.
[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 Lakhathesi, khangelani, ubufakazi bami busemazulwini, lomfakazi wami usezindaweni eziphakemeyo.
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 Abangane bami bayangiklolodela; ilihlo lami liyathonta kuNkulunkulu.
My [three] friends scorn/ridicule me, but my eyes are full of tears [while I cry out] to God.
21 Kungathi kungaba khona ongamlamulela umuntu kuNkulunkulu, njengendodana yomuntu kumngane wayo.
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 Ngoba iminyaka emilutshwana izafika, njalo ngizahamba ngendlela engingayikubuya ngayo.
[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.”
