| 1. | Then Job answered and said: |
| 2. | I have heard this sort of thing many times. Wearisome comforters are you all! |
| 3. | Is there no end to windy words? Or what sickness have you that you speak on? |
| 4. | I also could talk as you do, were you in my place. I could declaim over you, or wag my head at you; |
| 5. | I could strengthen you with talk, or shake my head with silent lips. |
| 6. | If I speak, this pain I have will not be checked; if I leave off, it will not depart from me. |
| 7. | But now that I am exhausted and stunned, all my company has closed in on me. |
| 8. | As a witness there rises up my traducer, speaking openly against me; |
| 9. | I am the prey his wrath assails, he gnashes his teeth against me. My enemies lord it over me; |
| 10. | their mouths are agape to bite me. They smite me on the cheek insultingly; they are all enlisted against me. |
| 11. | God has given me over to the impious; into the clutches of the wicked he has cast me. |
| 12. | I was in peace, but he dislodged me; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces. He has set me up for a target; |
| 13. | his arrows strike me from all directions, He pierces my sides without mercy, he pours out my gall upon the ground. |
| 14. | He pierces me with thrust upon thrust; he attacks me like a warrior. |
| 15. | I have fastened sackcloth over my skin, and have laid my brow in the dust. |
| 16. | My face is inflamed with weeping and there is darkness over my eyes, |
| 17. | Although my hands are free from violence, and my prayer is sincere. |
| 18. | O earth, cover not my blood, nor let my outcry come to rest! |
| 19. | Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my spokesman is on high. |
| 20. | My friends it is who wrong me; before God my eyes drop tears, |
| 21. | That he may do justice for a mortal in his presence and decide between a man and his neighbor. |
| 22. | For my years are numbered now, and I am on a journey from which I shall not return. |
