Job 19
1 But Job answered by saying:
Then Job answered and said,
2 How long will you afflict my soul and wear me down with words?
“How long will you make me suffer and break me into pieces with words?
3 So, ten times you confound me and are not ashamed to oppress me.
These ten times you have reproached me; you are not ashamed that you have treated me harshly.
4 Now, of course, if I have been ignorant, my ignorance will be with me.
If it is indeed true that I have erred, my error remains my own concern.
5 But you have risen up against me, and you accuse me to my disgrace.
If indeed you will exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me,
6 At least now you should understand that God has not afflicted me with a balanced judgment, though he has encompassed me with his scourges.
then you should know that God has done wrong to me and has caught me in his net.
7 Behold, I will cry out, enduring violence, and no one will hear. I will announce loudly, but there is no one who may judge.
See, I cry out, “Violence!” but I get no answer. I call out for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has hemmed in my path, and I cannot pass; he has added darkness to my difficult path.
He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness in my path.
9 He has plundered me of my glory, and he has stolen the crown from my head.
He has stripped me of my glory, and he has taken the crown from my head.
10 He has destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and, like an uprooted tree, he has taken away my hope.
He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone; he has pulled up my hope like a tree.
11 His fury has raged against me, and in this way he has treated me like his enemy.
He has also kindled his wrath against me; he regards me as one of his adversaries.
12 His troops have gathered together, and they have made their way to me, and they have besieged my tabernacle all around.
His troops come on together; they cast up siege mounds against me and encamp around my tent.
13 He has put my brothers far from me, and my friends have withdrawn from me like strangers.
He has put my brothers far from me; my acquaintances are wholly alienated from me.
14 My kinsmen have forsaken me, and those who knew me, have forgotten me.
My kinsfolk have failed me; my close friends have forgotten me.
15 The inhabitants of my house and my maidservants treat me just as if I were a stranger, and I have been like a sojourner in their eyes.
Those who once stayed as guests in my house and my female servants regard me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.
16 I called my servant, and he did not respond; I pleaded with him with my own mouth.
I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer although I entreat him with my mouth.
17 My wife has shuddered at my breath, and I have begged the sons of my loins.
My breath is offensive to my wife; I am even disgusting to those who were born from my mother's womb.
18 Even the foolish have looked down on me, and, when I withdrew from them, they spoke ill of me.
Even young children despise me; if I rise to speak, they speak against me.
19 Those who were sometimes my counselors, treat me like an abomination; and he whom I valued the most has turned against me.
All my familiar friends abhor me; those whom I love have turned against me.
20 Since my flesh has been consumed, my bone adheres to my skin, and only my lips have been left around my teeth.
My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh; I survive only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have mercy on me, have compassion on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord has touched me.
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, my friends, for the hand of God has touched me.
22 Why do you pursue me just as God does, and satiate yourselves with my flesh?
Why do you pursue me like God does? Will you ever be satisfied with my flesh?
23 Who will grant to me that my words may be written down? Who will grant to me that they may be inscribed in a book,
Oh, that my words were now written down! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
24 with an iron pen and a plate of lead, or else be carved in stone?
Oh, that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day I will rise out of the earth.
But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at last he will stand on the earth;
26 And I will be enveloped again with my skin, and in my flesh I will see my God.
after my skin, that is, this body, is destroyed, then in my flesh I will see God.
27 It is he whom I myself will see, and he whom my eyes will behold, and no other. This, my hope, has taken rest in my bosom.
I will see him with my own eyes—I, and not someone else. My heart fails within me.
28 Why then do you now say: “Let us pursue him, and let us find a basis to speak against him?”
If you say, 'How we will persecute him! The root of his troubles lies in him,'
29 So then, flee from the face of the sword, for the sword is the avenger of iniquities; but know this: there is to be a judgment.
then be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”
