Job 19
1 Then Job answered:
But Job answered and said:
2 “How long will you torment me and crush me with your words?
How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
3 Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.
These ten times have ye reviled me; Without shame do ye stun me!
4 Even if I have truly gone astray, my error concerns me alone.
And be it, indeed, that I have erred, My error abideth with myself.
5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my disgrace against me,
Since, indeed, ye magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach,
6 then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.
Know then that it is God who hath brought me low; He hath encompassed me with his net.
7 Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
Behold, I complain of wrong, but receive no answer; I cry aloud, but obtain no justice.
8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
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 honor and removed the crown from my head.
He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.
He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone! He hath torn up my hope like a tree.
11 His anger burns against me, and He counts me among His enemies.
He kindleth his anger against me, And counteth me as his enemy.
12 His troops advance together; they construct a 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 removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me.
My brethren he hath put far from me, And my acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
14 My kinsmen have failed me, and my friends have forgotten me.
My kinsfolk have forsaken me, And my bosom friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner 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 for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth.
I call my servant, and he maketh no answer; With my own mouth do I entreat him.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family.
My breath is become strange to my wife, And my prayers also to my own mother's sons.
18 Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.
Even young children despise me; When I rise up, they speak against me.
19 All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.
All my bosom friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My skin and flesh cling to my bones; 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, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck 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 does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?
Why do ye persecute me like God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,
O that my words were now written! O that they were marked down in a scroll!
24 by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.
That with an iron pen, and with lead, They were engraven upon the rock for ever!
25 But I know that my Redeemer lives, and 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 Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
And though with my skin this body be wasted away, Yet without my flesh shall I see God.
27 I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns 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, ‘Let us persecute him, since the root of the matter lies with him,’
Since ye say, “How may we persecute him, And find grounds of accusation against him?”
29 then you should fear the sword yourselves, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so 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.
