Job 16

Job Says Friends Are Sorry Comforters

1Then Job answered and said, 2“I have heard many such things;
Wearisome and miserable comforters are you all. 3“Is there no end to [your futile] words of wind?
Or what plagues you [so much] that you [so boldly] answer [me like this]? 4“I also could speak like you,
If you were in my place;
I could compose and join words together against you
And shake my head at you. 5“[But instead] I could strengthen and encourage you with [the words of] my mouth,
And the consolation and solace of my lips would soothe your suffering and lessen your anguish. Job Says God Shattered Him 6“If I speak [to you miserable comforters], my pain is not relieved;
And if I refrain [from speaking], what [pain or anguish] leaves me? 7“But now God has exhausted me.
You [O Lord] have destroyed all my family and my household. 8“You have taken a firm hold on me and have shriveled me up,
It has become a witness [against me];
And my leanness [and infirmity] rises up [as evidence] against me,
It testifies to my face [about my guilt]. 9“His wrath has torn me and hunted me down,
He has gnashed at me with his teeth;
My adversary sharpens His gaze and glares [with piercing eyes] at me. 10“They have gaped at me with their mouths,
With contempt they have struck me on the cheek;
They massed themselves together [and conspired] against me. 11“God hands me over to criminals
And tosses me [headlong] into the hands of the wicked. 12“I was [living] at ease, but He crushed me and broke me apart,
And He has seized me by the neck and has shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His target. 13“His arrows surround me.
He pierces my kidneys (vital organs) without mercy;
He pours out my gall on the ground. 14“He attacks me, making wound after wound;
He runs at me like a warrior. 15“I have sewed sackcloth over my skin [as a sign of mourning]
And have defiled my horn (symbol of strength) in the dust. 16“My face is red and swollen with weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death [my eyes are dimmed], 17Although there is no violence or wrongdoing in my hands,
And my prayer is pure. 18“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no [resting] place for my cry [where it will cease being heard]. 19“Even now, behold, my Witness is in heaven,
And my Advocate [who vouches and testifies for me] is on high. 20“My friends are scoffers [who ridicule];
My eye pours out tears to God. 21“Oh, that a man would mediate and plead with God [for me]
Just as a man [mediates and pleads] with his neighbor and friend. 22“For when a few years are past,
I shall go the way of no return.