| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Then Job answered and said: | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2“I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters are you all! | 2I have heard many things like these. You are all miserable comforters. |
| 3Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? | 3Is there no end to your empty words? What provokes you that you continue testifying? |
| 4I 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; | 4If you were in my place I could also talk like you. I could string words together against you and shake my head at you. |
| 5But I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief. | 5Instead, I would encourage you with my mouth, and the consolation from my lips would bring relief. |
| 6“Though I speak, my grief is not relieved; And if I remain silent, how am I eased? | 6Even if I speak, my suffering is not relieved, and if I hold back, what have I lost? |
| 7But now He has worn me out; You have made desolate all my company. | 7Surely He has now exhausted me. You have devastated my entire family. |
| 8You have shriveled me up, And it is a witness against me; My leanness rises up against me And bears witness to my face. | 8You have shriveled me up--it has become a witness; My frailty rises up against me and testifies to my face. |
| 9He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me. | 9His anger tears at me, and He harasses me. He gnashes His teeth at me. My enemy pierces me with His eyes. |
| 10They gape at me with their mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against me. | 10They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join themselves together against me. |
| 11God has delivered me to the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked. | 11God hands me over to unjust men; He throws me into the hands of the wicked. |
| 12I 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, | 12I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the scruff of the neck and smashed me to pieces. He set me up as His target; |
| 13His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground. | 13His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and pours my bile on the ground. |
| 14He breaks me with wound upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior. | 14He breaks through my defenses again and again; He charges at me like a warrior. |
| 15“I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, And laid my head in the dust. | 15I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my strength in the dust. |
| 16My face is flushed from weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death; | 16My face has grown red with weeping, and darkness covers my eyes, |
| 17Although no violence is in my hands, And my prayer is pure. | 17although my hands are free from violence and my prayer is pure. |
| 18“O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place! | 18Earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help find no resting place. |
| 19Surely even now my witness is in heaven, And my evidence is on high. | 19Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is in the heights! |
| 20My friends scorn me; My eyes pour out tears to God. | 20My friends scoff at me as I weep before God. |
| 21Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor! | 21I wish that someone might arbitrate between a man and God just as a man pleads for his friend. |
| 22For when a few years are finished, I shall go the way of no return. | 22For only a few years will pass before I go the way of no return. |
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