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Job 16-17
Complete Jewish Bible
Job 16-17
Complete Jewish Bible
16 In response Iyov said:
2 “I have heard this stuff so often!
Such sorry comforters, all of you!
3 Is there no end to words of wind?
What provokes you to answer this way?
4 “If I were in your place,
I too could speak as you do —
I could string phrases together against you
and shake my head at you.
5 I could ‘strengthen’ you with my mouth,
with lip service I could ‘ease your grief.’
6 If I speak, my own pain isn’t eased;
and if I don’t speak, it still doesn’t leave.
7 “But now he has worn me out;
you have desolated this whole community of mine.
8 Besides, you have shriveled me up;
and this serves to witness against me.
My being so thin rises up against me
and testifies to my face.
9 He tears me apart in his anger;
he holds a grudge against me;
he gnashes on me with his teeth.
“My enemies look daggers at me.
10 Wide-mouthed, they gape at me;
with scorn, they slap my cheeks;
they gather themselves together against me.
11 “God delivers me to the perverse,
throws me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at peace, and he shook me apart.
Yes, he grabbed me by the neck and dashed me to pieces.
He set me up as his target —
13 his archers surrounded me.
He slashes my innards and shows no mercy,
he pours my gall on the ground.
14 He breaks in on me again and again,
attacking me like a warrior.
15 “I sewed sackcloth together to cover my skin
and laid my pride in the dust;
16 my face is red from crying,
and on my eyelids is a death-dark shadow.
17 Yet my hands are free from violence,
and my prayer is pure.
18 “Earth, don’t cover my blood;
don’t let my cry rest [without being answered].
19 Even now, my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is there on high.
20 With friends like these as intercessors,
my eyes pour out tears to God,
21 that he would arbitrate between a man and God,
just as one does for his fellow human being.
22 For I have but few years left
before I leave on the road of no return.
17 “My spirit is broken, my days are quenched,
I am marked for the grave.
2 Mockers are all around me;
my eye meets only their hostility.
3 Be my guarantor, yourself!
Who else will put up a pledge for me?
4 For you have shut their minds to common sense;
therefore you will not let them triumph.
5 Should people share with their friends
when their own children’s eyes are so sad?
6 “He has made me a byword among the peoples,
a creature in whose face they spit.
7 I am nearly blind with grief,
my limbs reduced to a shadow.
8 The upright are perplexed at this,
the innocent aroused against the hypocrites.
9 Yet the righteous hold on to their way,
and those with clean hands grow stronger and stronger.
10 “But as for you all, turn around! Come back! —
yet I won’t find a wise man among you.
11 My days are over, my plans cut off,
which I had cherished so;
12 but they [try to] turn [my] night into day,
[saying,] ‘Light is near!’ — in the face of darkness.
13 “If I hope for Sh’ol to be my house;
if I spread my couch in the dark;
14 if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
and to worms, ‘You are my mother and sister,’
15 then where is my hope?
And that hope of mine, who will see it?
16 Only those who go down with me
to the bars of Sh’ol,
when we rest together in the dust.”
Job 16-17
New International Version
Job 16-17
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)
17 1 My spirit(AT) is broken,
my days are cut short,(AU)
the grave awaits me.(AV)
2 Surely mockers(AW) surround me;(AX)
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.(AY)
Who else will put up security(AZ) for me?(BA)
4 You have closed their minds to understanding;(BB)
therefore you will not let them triumph.
5 If anyone denounces their friends for reward,(BC)
the eyes of their children will fail.(BD)
6 “God has made me a byword(BE) to everyone,(BF)
a man in whose face people spit.(BG)
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;(BH)
my whole frame is but a shadow.(BI)
8 The upright are appalled at this;
the innocent are aroused(BJ) against the ungodly.
9 Nevertheless, the righteous(BK) will hold to their ways,
and those with clean hands(BL) will grow stronger.(BM)
10 “But come on, all of you, try again!
I will not find a wise man among you.(BN)
11 My days have passed,(BO) my plans are shattered.
Yet the desires of my heart(BP)
12 turn night into day;(BQ)
in the face of the darkness light is near.(BR)
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave,(BS)
if I spread out my bed(BT) in the realm of darkness,(BU)
14 if I say to corruption,(BV) ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm,(BW) ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope—(BX)
who can see any hope for me?(BY)
16 Will it go down to the gates of death?(BZ)
Will we descend together into the dust?”(CA)
Footnotes
- Job 16:20 Or My friends treat me with scorn
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.