Then Job answered and said,
I have heard many such things:
{Or, Wearisome}Miserable comforters are ye all.
Shall {Hebrew: words of wind.}vain words have an end?
Or what provoketh thee that thou answerest?
I also could speak as ye do;
If your soul were in my soul's stead,
I could join words together against you,
And shake my head at you.
But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips would assuage your grief.
Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged;
And though I forbear, {Hebrew: what departeth from me?}what am I eased?
But now he hath made me weary:
Thou hast made desolate all my company.
And thou hast {Or, shrivelled me up}laid fast hold on me, which is a witness against me:
And my leanness riseth up against me,
It testifieth to my face.
He hath torn me in his wrath, and {Or, hated}persecuted me;
He hath gnashed upon me with his teeth:
Mine adversary sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
They have gaped upon me with their mouth;
They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully:
They gather themselves together against me.
God delivereth me to the ungodly,
And casteth me into the hands of the wicked.
I was at ease, and he brake me asunder;
Yea, he hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces:
He hath also set me up for his mark.
His {Or, arrows Or, mighty ones}archers compass me round about;
He cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare;
He poureth out my gall upon the ground.
He breaketh me with breach upon breach;
He runneth upon me like a {Or, mighty man}giant.
I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin,
And have {Or, defiled}laid my horn in the dust.
My face is red with weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
Although there is no violence in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.
O earth, cover not thou my blood,
And let my cry {Or, have no more place}have no resting-place.
Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
And he that voucheth for me is on high.
My friends scoff at me:
But mine eye poureth out tears unto God,
{Or, That one might plead for a man with God. As a son of man pleadeth for his neighbor}That he would maintain the right of a man with God,
And of a son of man with his neighbor!
For when a few years are come,
I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
Querverweise zu Hiob 16,12 Hiob 16,12
And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,And the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
He runneth upon him with a stiff neck, {Or, Upon}With the thick bosses of his bucklers;
He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,That thou settest a watch over me?
His {Or, cattle}substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.
{Or, Through}That thou hast sore broken us in the place of jackals,And covered us with the shadow of death.
who for my life laid down their own necks; unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles:
When they took hold of thee {Or, by the handle Another reading is, with the hand.}by thy hand, thou didst break, and didst rend all their shoulders; and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to {Or, as some read, shake See Psalm 69:23.}be at a stand.
If I have sinned, what {Or, can I do}do I unto thee, O thou {Or, preserver}watcher of men?Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee,So that I am a burden to myself?
I {Or, was not at ease…yet trouble came}am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest;But trouble cometh.
My flesh and my skin hath he {Or, worn out}made old; he hath broken my bones.
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
When his lamp shined {Or, above}upon my head,And by his light I walked through darkness;
{Some ancient authorities omit verse 44.}And he that falleth on this stone shall be broken to pieces: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.
Then I said, I shall die {Or, beside Hebrew: with.}in my nest,And I shall multiply my days as the sand:
My root is {Hebrew: opened.}spread out {Or, by}to the waters,And the dew lieth all night upon my branch;