[1] Job's Reply to Eliphaz Job said: [2] I have often heard this, and it offers no comfort. [3] So why don't you keep quiet? What's bothering you? [4] If I were in your place, it would be easy to criticize or to give advice. [5] But I would offer hope and comfort instead. [6] If I speak, or if I don't, I hurt all the same. My torment continues. [7] God has worn me down and destroyed my family; [8] my shriveled up skin proves that I am his prisoner. [9] God is my hateful enemy, glaring at me and attacking with his sharp teeth. [10] Everyone is against me; they sneer and slap my face. [11] And God is the one who handed me over to this merciless mob. [12] Everything was going well, until God grabbed my neck and shook me to pieces. God set me up as the target [13] for his arrows, and without showing mercy, he slashed my stomach open, spilling out my insides. [14] God never stops attacking, [15] and so, in my sorrow I dress in sackcloth and sit in the dust. [16] My face is red with tears, and dark shadows circle my eyes, [17] though I am not violent, and my prayers are sincere. [18] If I should die, I beg the earth not to cover my cry for justice. [19] Even now, God in heaven is both my witness and my protector. [20] My friends have rejected me, but God is the one I beg [21] to show that I am right, just as a friend should. [22] Because in only a few years, I will be dead and gone.
