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Job 16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Job 16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 16
Job’s Fourth Reply. 1 Then Job answered and said:
2 I have heard this sort of thing many times.(A)
Troublesome comforters, all of you!
3 Is there no end to windy words?
What sickness makes you rattle on?
4 I also could talk as you do,
were you in my place.
I could declaim over you,
or wag my head at you;
5 I could strengthen you with talk,
with mere chatter give relief.
6 If I speak, my pain is not relieved;
if I stop speaking, nothing changes.
7 But now he has exhausted me;
you have stunned all my companions.
8 You[a] have shriveled me up; it is a witness,
my gauntness rises up to testify against me;
9 His wrath tears and assails me,
he gnashes his teeth against me;
My enemy looks daggers at me.
10 They gape at me with their mouths;
They strike me on the cheek with insults;
they are all enlisted against me.
11 God has given me over to the impious;
into the hands of the wicked he has cast me.
12 I was in peace, but he dislodged me,
seized me by the neck, dashed me to pieces.
He has set me up for a target;
13 his arrows strike me from all directions.
He pierces my sides without mercy,
pours out my gall upon the ground.
14 He pierces me, thrust upon thrust,
rushes at me like a warrior.
15 I have sewn sackcloth on my skin,
laid my horn low in the dust.
16 My face is inflamed with weeping,
darkness covers my eyes,
17 Although my hands are free from violence,
and my prayer sincere.
18 O earth, do not cover my blood,
nor let my outcry come to rest![b]
19 Even now my witness[c] is in heaven,
my advocate is on high.
20 My friends it is who wrong me;
before God my eyes shed tears,
21 That justice may be done for a mortal with God:
as for a man with his neighbor.
22 For my years are numbered,
and I go the road of no return.
Footnotes
- 16:8 You: God. Job then describes in vv. 9–17 the savage treatment that he has received from God.
- 16:18 As the exposed blood of those who were unjustly slain cries to heaven for vengeance (Gn 4:10; Ez 24:6–9), so Job’s sufferings demand redress.
- 16:19 Witness: refers perhaps to God (is Job appealing to God against God?), or to a mediator (cf. 9:33), or to a personification of Job’s prayer.
Job 16
New International Version
Job 16
New International Version
Job
16 Then Job replied:
2 “I have heard many things like these;
you are miserable comforters,(A) all of you!(B)
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?(C)
What ails you that you keep on arguing?(D)
4 I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
and shake my head(E) at you.
5 But my mouth would encourage you;
comfort(F) from my lips would bring you relief.(G)
6 “Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
and if I refrain, it does not go away.(H)
7 Surely, God, you have worn me out;(I)
you have devastated my entire household.(J)
8 You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;
my gauntness(K) rises up and testifies against me.(L)
9 God assails me and tears(M) me in his anger(N)
and gnashes his teeth at me;(O)
my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.(P)
10 People open their mouths(Q) to jeer at me;(R)
they strike my cheek(S) in scorn
and unite together against me.(T)
11 God has turned me over to the ungodly
and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.(U)
12 All was well with me, but he shattered me;
he seized me by the neck and crushed me.(V)
He has made me his target;(W)
13 his archers surround me.(X)
Without pity, he pierces(Y) my kidneys
and spills my gall on the ground.
14 Again and again(Z) he bursts upon me;
he rushes at me like a warrior.(AA)
15 “I have sewed sackcloth(AB) over my skin
and buried my brow in the dust.(AC)
16 My face is red with weeping,(AD)
dark shadows ring my eyes;(AE)
17 yet my hands have been free of violence(AF)
and my prayer is pure.(AG)
18 “Earth, do not cover my blood;(AH)
may my cry(AI) never be laid to rest!(AJ)
19 Even now my witness(AK) is in heaven;(AL)
my advocate is on high.(AM)
20 My intercessor(AN) is my friend[a](AO)
as my eyes pour out(AP) tears(AQ) to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads(AR) with God
as one pleads for a friend.
22 “Only a few years will pass
before I take the path of no return.(AS)
Footnotes
- Job 16:20 Or My friends treat me with scorn
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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