| 1 | Then Job answered and said: | |
| 2 | "I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters are you all! | |
| 3 | Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? | |
| 4 | I also could speak as you do, If your soul were in my soul's place. I could heap up words against you, And shake my head at you; | |
| 5 | But I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief. | |
| 6 | "Though I speak, my grief is not relieved; And if I remain silent, how am I eased? | |
| 7 | But now He has worn me out; You have made desolate all my company. | |
| 8 | You have shriveled me up, And it is a witness against me; My leanness rises up against me And bears witness to my face. | |
| 9 | He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me. | |
| 10 | They gape at me with their mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against me. | |
| 11 | God has delivered me to the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked. | |
| 12 | I was at ease, but He has shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target, | |
| 13 | His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground. | |
| 14 | He breaks me with wound upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior. | |
| 15 | "I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, And laid my head in the dust. | |
| 16 | My face is flushed from weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death; | |
| 17 | Although no violence is in my hands, And my prayer is pure. | |
| 18 | "O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place! | |
| 19 | Surely even now my witness is in heaven, And my evidence is on high. | |
| 20 | My friends scorn me; My eyes pour out tears to God. | |
| 21 | Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor! | |
| 22 | For when a few years are finished, I shall go the way of no return. | |