Job 19
1 And Job answered and said,
Then Job answered:
2 How long will ye vex my soul, and crush me with words?
“How long will you torment me and crush me with your words?
3 These ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not ashamed to stupefy me.
Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.
4 And be it [that] I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
Even if I have truly gone astray, my error concerns me alone.
5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and prove against me my reproach,
If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my disgrace against me,
6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath surrounded me with his net.
then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.
7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, and I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
8 He hath hedged up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.
10 He breaketh me down on every side, and I am gone; and my hope hath he torn up as a tree.
He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.
11 And he hath kindled his anger against me, and hath counted me unto him as one of his enemies.
His anger burns against me, and He counts me among His enemies.
12 His troops have come together and cast up their way against me, and have encamped round about my tent.
His troops advance together; they construct a ramp against me and encamp around my tent.
13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are quite estranged from me.
He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my known friends have forgotten me.
My kinsmen have failed me, and my friends have forgotten me.
15 The sojourners in my house and my maids count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.
My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I called my servant, and he answered not; I entreated him with my mouth.
I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is strange to my wife, and my entreaties to the children of my [mother's] womb.
My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me; I rise up, and they speak against me.
Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.
19 All my intimate friends abhor me, and they whom I loved are turned against me.
All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.
20 My bones cleave to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 Oh would that my words were written! oh that they were inscribed in a book!
I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,
24 That with an iron style and lead they were graven in the rock for ever!
by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.
25 And [as for] me, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and the Last, he shall stand upon the earth;
But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
26 And [if] after my skin this shall be destroyed, yet from out of my flesh shall I see God;
Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another: — my reins are consumed within me.
I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!
28 If ye say, How shall we persecute him? when the root of the matter is found in me,
If you say, ‘Let us persecute him, since the root of the matter lies with him,’
29 Be ye yourselves afraid of the sword! for the sword is fury against misdeeds, that ye may know there is a judgment.
then you should fear the sword yourselves, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”
