Job 19
1 Then Job answered,
But Job answered and said:
2 “How long will you torment me, and crush me with words?
How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
3 You have reproached me ten times. You are not ashamed that you attack me.
These ten times have ye reviled me; Without shame do ye stun me!
4 If it is true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.
And be it, indeed, that I have erred, My error abideth with myself.
5 If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach,
Since, indeed, ye magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach,
6 know now that God has subverted me, and has surrounded me with his net.
Know then that it is God who hath brought me low; He hath encompassed me with his net.
7 “Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard. I cry for help, but there is no justice.
Behold, I complain of wrong, but receive no answer; I cry aloud, but obtain no justice.
8 He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and has set darkness in my paths.
He hath fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
10 He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. He has plucked my hope up like a tree.
He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone! He hath torn up my hope like a tree.
11 He has also kindled his wrath against me. He counts me among his adversaries.
He kindleth his anger against me, And counteth me as his enemy.
12 His troops come on together, build a siege ramp against me, and encamp around my tent.
His troops advance together against me; They throw up for themselves a way to me, And encamp around my dwelling.
13 “He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
My brethren he hath put far from me, And my acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away. My familiar friends have forgotten me.
My kinsfolk have forsaken me, And my bosom friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who dwell in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am an alien in their sight.
The foreigners of my house, yea, my own maid-servants, regard me as a stranger; I am an alien in their eyes.
16 I call to my servant, and he gives me no answer. I beg him with my mouth.
I call my servant, and he maketh no answer; With my own mouth do I entreat him.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.
My breath is become strange to my wife, And my prayers also to my own mother's sons.
18 Even young children despise me. If I arise, they speak against me.
Even young children despise me; When I rise up, they speak against me.
19 All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me.
All my bosom friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
My bones cleave to my flesh and my skin, And I have scarcely escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21 “Have pity on me. Have pity on me, you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me.
Have pity upon me, O ye my friends! have pity upon me; For the hand of God hath smitten me!
22 Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Why do ye persecute me like God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
O that my words were now written! O that they were marked down in a scroll!
24 That with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
That with an iron pen, and with lead, They were engraven upon the rock for ever!
25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
Yet I know that my Vindicator liveth, And will hereafter stand up on the earth;
26 After my skin is destroyed, then I will see God in my flesh,
And though with my skin this body be wasted away, Yet without my flesh shall I see God.
27 whom I, even I, will see on my side. My eyes will see, and not as a stranger. “My heart is consumed within me.
Yea, I shall see him my friend; My eyes shall behold him, and not another: For this, my soul panteth within me.
28 If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’ because the root of the matter is found in me,
Since ye say, “How may we persecute him, And find grounds of accusation against him?”
29 be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.”
Be ye afraid of the sword! For malice is a crime for the sword; That ye may know that judgment cometh.
