Job 19
1 And Job answered and said,
Then Job answered and said,
2 How long will ye vex my soul, and crush me with words?
“How long will you make me suffer and break me into pieces with words?
3 These ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not ashamed to stupefy me.
These ten times you have reproached me; you are not ashamed that you have treated me harshly.
4 And be it [that] I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
If it is indeed true that I have erred, my error remains my own concern.
5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and prove against me my reproach,
If indeed you will exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me,
6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath surrounded me with his net.
then you should know that God has done wrong to me and has caught me in his net.
7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, and I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
See, I cry out, “Violence!” but I get no answer. I call out for help, but 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 walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness in my path.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
He has stripped me of my glory, and he has taken 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 has broken me down on every side, and I am gone; he has pulled up 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.
He has also kindled his wrath against me; he regards me as one of his adversaries.
12 His troops have come together and cast up their way against me, and have encamped round about my tent.
His troops come on together; they cast up siege mounds 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 put my brothers far from me; my acquaintances are wholly alienated from me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my known friends have forgotten me.
My kinsfolk have failed me; my close 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.
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 answered not; I entreated him with my mouth.
I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer although I entreat him with my mouth.
17 My breath is strange to my wife, and my entreaties to the children of my [mother's] womb.
My breath is offensive to my wife; I am even disgusting to those who were born from my mother's womb.
18 Even young children despise me; I rise up, and they speak against me.
Even young children despise me; if I rise to speak, they speak against me.
19 All my intimate friends abhor me, and they whom I loved are turned against me.
All my familiar friends abhor me; those whom 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 bones cling to my skin and to my flesh; I survive only 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 upon me, have pity upon me, my friends, for the hand of God has touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Why do you pursue me like God does? Will you ever be satisfied with my flesh?
23 Oh would that my words were written! oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh, that my words were now written down! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
24 That with an iron style and lead they were graven in the rock for ever!
Oh, that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 And [as for] me, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and the Last, he shall stand upon the earth;
But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at last he will stand on the earth;
26 And [if] after my skin this shall be destroyed, yet from out of my flesh shall I see God;
after my skin, that is, this body, is destroyed, then 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 with my own eyes—I, and not someone else. My heart fails within me.
28 If ye say, How shall we persecute him? when the root of the matter is found in me,
If you say, 'How we will persecute him! The root of his troubles lies in 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 be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”
