Home Master Index
←Prev   Job 16 as rendered by/in  Next→ 


16:1  Job said:
16:2  I have often heard this, and it offers no comfort.
16:3  So why don't you keep quiet? What's bothering you?
16:4  If I were in your place, it would be easy to criticize or to give advice.
16:5  But I would offer hope and comfort instead.
16:6  If I speak, or if I don't, I hurt all the same. My torment continues.
16:7  God has worn me down and destroyed my family;
16:8  my shriveled up skin proves that I am his prisoner.
16:9  God is my hateful enemy, glaring at me and attacking with his sharp teeth.
16:10  Everyone is against me; they sneer and slap my face.
16:11  And God is the one who handed me over to this merciless mob.
16:12  Everything was going well, until God grabbed my neck and shook me to pieces. God set me up as the target
16:13  for his arrows, and without showing mercy, he slashed my stomach open, spilling out my insides.
16:14  God never stops attacking,
16:15  and so, in my sorrow I dress in sackcloth and sit in the dust.
16:16  My face is red with tears, and dark shadows circle my eyes,
16:17  though I am not violent, and my prayers are sincere.
16:18  If I should die, I beg the earth not to cover my cry for justice.
16:19  Even now, God in heaven is both my witness and my protector.
16:20  My friends have rejected me, but God is the one I beg
16:21  to show that I am right, just as a friend should.
16:22  Because in only a few years, I will be dead and gone.