Job continues to speak to his three friends.

## My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh ##

Job is so thin that his skin and flesh barely cover his bones.

## I survive only by the skin of my teeth ##

AT: "I am barely alive." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

## Have pity upon me ##

"Have compassion on me"

## for the hand of God has touched me ##

"Hand" represents the power and authority of God. AT: "because God has afflicted me." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-synecdoche]])

## Why do you persecute me... ##

AT: "You should not persecute me..." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])

## Why are you not satisfied with consuming my flesh ##

Job uses this image to compare a person who slanders another person with an animal that eats another animal. AT: "Stop violently slandering me." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])