16:1 Then Job replied:
16:2 “I have heard many things like these before.
Miserable comforters1 are you all!
16:3 Will2 there be an end to your3 windy words?4
Or what provokes5 you that you answer?6
16:4 I also could speak7 like you,
if8 you were in my place;
I could pile up9 words against you
and I could shake my head at you.10
16:5 But11 I would strengthen12 you with my words;13
comfort from my lips would bring14 you relief.
Abandonment by God and Man
16:6 “But15 if I speak, my pain is not assuaged,16
and if I refrain from speaking
—how17 much of it goes away?
16:7 Surely now he18 has worn me out,
you have devastated my entire household.
and it20 has become a witness;
my leanness21 has risen up against me
and testifies against me.
16:9 His22 anger has torn me23 and persecuted24 me;
he has gnashed at me with his teeth;
my adversary fastens25 his eyes on me.
16:10 People26 have opened their mouths against me,
they have struck my cheek in scorn;27
they unite28 together against me.
16:11 God abandons me to evil29 men,30
and throws31 me into the hands of wicked men.
16:12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me.32
He has seized me by the neck and crushed me.33
He has made me his target;
16:13 his archers34 surround me.
Without pity35 he pierces36 my kidneys
and pours out my gall37 on the ground.
16:14 He breaks through against me, time and time again;38
he rushes39 against me like a warrior.
16:15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,40
and buried41 my horn42 in the dust;
16:16 my face is reddened43 because of weeping,44
and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness,45
16:17 although46 there is no violence in my hands
and my prayer is pure.
An Appeal to God as Witness
16:18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,47
nor let there be a secret48 place for my cry.
16:19 Even now my witness49 is in heaven;
my advocate50 is on high.
16:20 My intercessor is my friend51
as my eyes pour out52 tears to God;
16:21 and53 he contends with God on behalf of man
as a man54 pleads55 for his friend.
16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few,56
and then I will go on the way of no return.57