Job 19
1 Then Job answered and said,
And Job answereth and saith: —
2 How long will ye vex my soul, and destroy me with words? only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.
Till when do ye afflict my soul, And bruise me with words?
3 Ye speak against me; ye do not feel for me, but bear hard upon me.
These ten times ye put me to shame, ye blush not. Ye make yourselves strange to me —
4 Yea verily, I have erred in truth, (but the error abides with myself) in having spoken words which it was not right [to speak]; and my words err, and are unreasonable.
And also — truly, I have erred, With me doth my error remain.
5 But alas! for ye magnify yourselves against me, and insult me with reproach.
If, truly, over me ye magnify yourselves, And decide against me my reproach;
6 Know then that it is the Lord that has troubled [me], and has raised his bulwark against me.
Know now, that God turned me upside down, And His net against me hath set round,
7 Behold, I laugh at reproach; I will not speak: [or] I will cry out, but [there is] nowhere judgment.
Lo, I cry out — violence, and am not answered, I cry aloud, and there is no judgment.
8 I am fenced round about, and can by no means escape: he has set darkness before my face.
My way He hedged up, and I pass not over, And on my paths darkness He placeth.
9 And he has stripped me of my glory, and has taken the crown from my head.
Mine honour from off me He hath stripped, And He turneth the crown from my head.
10 He has torn me around about, and I am gone: and he has cut off my hope like a tree.
He breaketh me down round about, and I go, And removeth like a tree my hope.
11 And he has dreadfully handled me in anger, and has counted me for an enemy.
And He kindleth against me His anger, And reckoneth me to Him as His adversaries.
12 His troops also came upon me with one accord, liars in wait compassed my ways.
Come in do His troops together, And they raise up against me their way, And encamp round about my tent.
13 My brethren have stood aloof from me; they have recognized strangers [rather] than me: and my friends have become pitiless.
My brethren from me He hath put far off, And mine acquaintances surely Have been estranged from me.
14 My nearest of kin have not acknowledged me, and they that knew my name, have forgotten me.
Ceased have my neighbours And my familiar friends have forgotten me,
15 [As for] my household, and my maid-servants, I was a stranger before them.
Sojourners of my house and my maids, For a stranger reckon me: An alien I have been in their eyes.
16 I called my servant, and he hearkened not; and my mouth intreated [him].
To my servant I have called, And he doth not answer, With my mouth I make supplication to him.
17 And I besought my wife, and earnestly intreated the sons of my concubines.
My spirit is strange to my wife, And my favours to the sons of my [mother's] womb.
18 But they rejected me for ever; whenever I rise up, they speak against me.
Also sucklings have despised me, I rise, and they speak against me.
19 They that saw me abhorred me: the very persons whom I had loved, rose up against me.
Abominate me do all the men of my counsel, And those I have loved, Have been turned against me.
20 My flesh is corrupt under my skin, and my bones are held in [my] teeth.
To my skin and to my flesh Cleaved hath my bone, And I deliver myself with the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, O friends; for it is the hand of the Lord that has touched me.
Pity me, pity me, ye my friends, For the hand of God hath stricken against me.
22 Wherefore do ye persecute me as also the Lord [does], and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Why do you pursue me as God? And with my flesh are not satisfied?
23 For oh that my words were written, and that they were recorded in a book forever,
Who doth grant now, That my words may be written? Who doth grant that in a book they may be graven?
24 with an iron pen and lead, or graven in the rocks!
With a pen of iron and lead — For ever in a rock they may be hewn.
25 For I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me,
That — I have known my Redeemer, The Living and the Last, For the dust he doth rise.
26 [and] to raise up upon the earth my skin that endures these [sufferings]: for these things have been accomplished to me of the Lord;
And after my skin hath compassed this [body], Then from my flesh I see God:
27 which I am conscious of in myself, which mine eye has seen, and not another, but all have been fulfilled to me in [my] bosom.
Whom I — I see on my side, And mine eyes have beheld, and not a stranger, Consumed have been my reins in my bosom.
28 But if ye shall also say, What shall we say before him, and [so] find the root of the matter in him?
But ye say, 'Why do we pursue after him?' And the root of the matter hath been found in me.
29 Do ye also beware of deceit: for wrath will come upon transgressors; and then shall they know where their substance is.
Be ye afraid because of the sword, For furious [are] the punishments of the sword, That ye may know that [there is] a judgment.
