Job 16 - 17

Job Replies: Miserable Comforters Are You

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 "I have heard e many such things;
f miserable comforters are you all.
 3 Shall g windy words have an end?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
 4 I also could speak as you do,
if you were in my place;
I could join words together against you
and h shake my head at you.
 5 I could strengthen you with my mouth,
and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.

6 "If I speak, my pain is not assuaged,
and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?
 7 Surely now God has worn me out;
i he has 1 made desolate all my company.
 8 And he has shriveled me up,
which is j a witness against me,
and my k leanness has risen up against me;
it testifies to my face.
 9 He has l torn me in his wrath m and hated me;
he has n gnashed his teeth at me;
my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.
 10 Men have o gaped at me with their mouth;
they have p struck me insolently on the cheek;
they q mass themselves together against me.
 11 God gives me up to the ungodly
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.
 12 I was at ease, and he broke me apart;
he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his r target;
 13 his s archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys t and does not spare;
he u pours out my gall on the ground.
 14 He breaks me with v breach upon breach;
he w runs upon me like a warrior.
 15 I have sewed x sackcloth upon my skin
and have laid y my strength z in the dust.
 16 My face is red with weeping,
and on my eyelids is a deep darkness,
 17 although there is no b violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.

18 "O earth, c cover not my blood,
and let my d cry find no resting place.
 19 Even now, behold, my e witness is in heaven,
and he who testifies for me is f on high.
 20 My friends g scorn me;
my eye pours out tears to God,
 21 that he would h argue the case of a man with God,
as 2 a son of man does with his neighbor.
 22 For when a few years have come
I shall go the way i from which I shall not return.

Job 17

Job Continues: Where Then Is My Hope?

1 "My spirit is broken; my days are j extinct;
k the graveyard is ready for me.
 2 Surely there are mockers about me,
and my eye dwells on their l provocation.

3 "Lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
who is there who will put up m security for me?
 4 Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,
therefore you will not let them triumph.
 5 He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property -
the n eyes of his children will fail.

6 "He has made me o a byword of the peoples,
and I am one before whom men spit.
 7 My p eye has grown dim from vexation,
and all my members are like q a shadow.
 8 The upright are r appalled at this,
and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.
 9 Yet the righteous holds to his way,
and he who has s clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
 10 But you, t come on again, all of you,
and I shall not find a wise man among you.
 11 My u days are past; my plans are broken off,
the desires of my heart.
 12 They v make night into day:
'The light,' they say, 'is near to the darkness.' 3
13 If I hope for w Sheol as x my house,
if I make my bed in darkness,
 14 if I say to the pit, 'You are my father,'
and to the worm, 'My mother,' or 'My sister,'
 15 where then is my hope?
Who will see my hope?
 16 Will it go down to the bars of w Sheol?
Shall we y descend together z into the dust?"

  1. Cross References
    Job 12:3
    But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
  2. Cross References
    Job 13:4
    As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all.
  3. Cross References
    Job 15:2
    Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
  4. Cross References
    2 Kings 19:21
    This is the word that the Lord has spoken conce...
    Psalms 22:7
    All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me;...
    Psalms 109:25
    I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when th...
    Isaiah 37:22
    This is the word that the Lord has spoken conce...
    Jeremiah 18:16
    Making their land a horror, a thing to be hisse...
    Lamentations 2:15
    All who pass along the way clap their hands at ...
    Matthew 27:39
    And those who passed by derided him, wagging th...
    Mark 15:29
    And those who passed by derided him, wagging th...
  5. Cross References
    Job 15:34
    For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
    Job 1:15 - 19
    And the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
  6. Cross References
    Job 10:17
    You renew your witnesses against me and increase your vexation toward me; you bring fresh troops against me.
    Ruth 1:21
    I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?
  7. Cross References
    Psalms 109:24
    My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
  8. Cross References
    Job 18:4
    You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you, or the rock be removed out of its place?
    Hosea 6:1
    Come, let us return to the Lord ; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
    Amos 1:11
    Thus says the Lord : "For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.
  9. Cross References
    Job 30:21
    You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me.
  10. Cross References
    Psalms 35:16
    Like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth.
    Psalms 37:12
    The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him.
    Psalms 112:10
    The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!
    Lamentations 2:16
    All your enemies rail against you; they hiss, they gnash their teeth, they cry: "We have swallowed her! Ah, this is the day we longed for; now we have it; we see it!
    Acts 7:54
    Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.
  11. Cross References
    Psalms 22:13
    They open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
  12. Cross References
    Psalms 3:7
    Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strik...
    Isaiah 50:6
    I gave my back to those who strike, and my chee...
    Lamentations 3:30
    Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, ...
    Micah 5:1
    Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; s...
    1 Kings 22:24
    Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near an...
    Acts 23:2
    And the high priest Ananias commanded those who...
  13. Cross References
    Psalms 35:15
    But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing.
  14. Cross References
    Lamentations 3:12
    He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.
    Job 7:20
    If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you?
  15. Cross References
    Jeremiah 50:29
    Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
  16. Cross References
    Job 27:22
    It hurls at him without pity; he flees from its power in headlong flight.
  17. Cross References
    Job 20:25
    It is drawn forth and comes out of his body; the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder; terrors come upon him.
    Lamentations 2:11
    My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city.
  18. Cross References
    Job 30:14
    As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.
  19. Cross References
    Job 15:26
    Running stubbornly against him with a thickly bossed shield.
  20. Cross References
    2 Samuel 3:31
    Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." And King David followed the bier.
  21. Cross References
    Psalms 75:10
    All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.
  22. Cross References
    Psalms 7:5
    Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
  23. Cross References
    Job 3:5
    Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
  24. Cross References
    Isaiah 53:9
    And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
  25. Cross References
    Isaiah 26:21
    For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.
    Ezekiel 24:7
    For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust.
  26. Cross References
    Genesis 4:10
    And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
  27. Cross References
    Psalms 89:37
    Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies." Selah
    Romans 1:9
    For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
  28. Cross References
    Psalms 148:1
    Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
  29. Cross References
    Job 12:5
    In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip.
  30. Cross References
    Job 31:35
    Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
  31. Cross References
    Job 10:21
    Before I go - and I shall not return - to the land of darkness and deep shadow.
  32. Cross References
    Job 18:5 - 6
    Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of his fire does not shine.
  33. Cross References
    Psalms 88:3 - 4
    For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
  34. Cross References
    1 Samuel 1:6 - 7
    And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.
    Job 12:6
    The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.
  35. Cross References
    Psalms 119:122
    Give your servant a pledge of good; let not the insolent oppress me.
    Isaiah 38:14
    Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!
    Hebrews 7:22
    This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
  36. Cross References
    Job 11:20
    But the eyes of the wicked will fail; all way of escape will be lost to them, and their hope is to breathe their last.
    Job 31:16
    If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail.
  37. Cross References
    Job 30:9
    And now I have become their song; I am a byword to them.
    Deuteronomy 28:37
    And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away.
    Psalms 44:14
    You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.
    Psalms 69:11
    When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.
  38. Cross References
    Psalms 6:7
    My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.
    Psalms 31:9
    Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also.
  39. Cross References
    Job 14:2
    He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.
  40. Cross References
    Isaiah 52:14
    As many were astonished at you - his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind -
  41. Cross References
    Job 22:30
    He delivers even the one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.
  42. Cross References
    Job 6:29
    Please turn; let no injustice be done. Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
  43. Cross References
    Job 7:6
    My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope.
    Job 9:25
    My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good.
  44. Cross References
    Job 11:17
    And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.
  45. Cross References
    Job 21:13
    They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.
  46. Cross References
    Ecclesiastes 12:5
    They are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets -
  47. Cross References
    Job 17:13
    If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness.
  48. Cross References
    Job 3:17 - 19
    There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.
  49. Cross References
    Job 21:26
    They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them.
    Job 40:13
    Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.