Job 16 – NIV & NIRV

New International Version

Job 16:1-22

Job

1Then Job replied:

2“I have heard many things like these;

you are miserable comforters, all of you!

3Will your long-winded speeches never end?

What ails you that you keep on arguing?

4I also could speak like you,

if you were in my place;

I could make fine speeches against you

and shake my head at you.

5But my mouth would encourage you;

comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

6“Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;

and if I refrain, it does not go away.

7Surely, God, you have worn me out;

you have devastated my entire household.

8You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;

my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.

9God assails me and tears me in his anger

and gnashes his teeth at me;

my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.

10People open their mouths to jeer at me;

they strike my cheek in scorn

and unite together against me.

11God has turned me over to the ungodly

and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.

12All was well with me, but he shattered me;

he seized me by the neck and crushed me.

He has made me his target;

13his archers surround me.

Without pity, he pierces my kidneys

and spills my gall on the ground.

14Again and again he bursts upon me;

he rushes at me like a warrior.

15“I have sewed sackcloth over my skin

and buried my brow in the dust.

16My face is red with weeping,

dark shadows ring my eyes;

17yet my hands have been free of violence

and my prayer is pure.

18“Earth, do not cover my blood;

may my cry never be laid to rest!

19Even now my witness is in heaven;

my advocate is on high.

20My intercessor is my friend16:20 Or My friends treat me with scorn

as my eyes pour out tears to God;

21on behalf of a man he pleads with God

as one pleads for a friend.

22“Only a few years will pass

before I take the path of no return.

New International Reader’s Version

Job 16:1-22

Job’s Reply

1Job replied,

2“I’ve heard many of these things before.

All of you are terrible at comforting me!

3Your speeches go on forever.

Won’t they ever end?

What’s wrong with you?

Why do you keep on arguing?

4If you and I changed places,

I could say the same things you are saying.

I could make fine speeches against you.

I could shake my head at you.

5But what I might say would give you hope.

My words of comfort would help you.

6“If I speak, it doesn’t help me.

And if I keep quiet, my pain doesn’t go away.

7God has worn me out completely.

He has destroyed my whole family.

8People can see the condition he has put me in.

My thin body stands as a witness against me.

9God is angry with me.

He attacks me and tears me up.

He grinds his teeth at me.

He stares at me as if he were my enemy.

10People make fun of me.

They slap my face and laugh at me.

All of them join together against me.

11God has turned me over to sinful people.

He has handed me over to them.

12Everything was going well with me.

But he broke me into pieces like a clay pot.

He grabbed me by the neck and crushed me.

He has taken aim at me.

13He shoots his arrows at me from all sides.

Without pity, he stabs me in the kidneys.

He spills my insides on the ground.

14He smashes through me as if I were a wall.

He rushes at me like a fighting man.

15“I’ve sewed rough clothing over my skin.

All I can do is sit here in the dust.

16My face is red from crying.

I have dark circles under my eyes.

17But I haven’t harmed anyone.

My prayers to God are pure.

18“Earth, please don’t cover up my blood!

May God always hear my cry for help!

19Even now my witness is in heaven.

The one who speaks up for me is there.

20My go-between is my friend

as I pour out my tears to God.

21He makes his appeal to God to help me

as a person pleads for a friend.

22“Only a few years will pass by.

Then I’ll take the path of no return.