Job 19
1 Then Job answered and said:
And Job answers and says:
2 How long will ye vex my soul, and crush me with words?
“Until when do you afflict my soul, And bruise me with words?
3 These ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not ashamed that ye deal harshly with me.
These ten times you put me to shame, you do not blush. You make yourselves strange to me—
4 And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
And also—truly, I have erred, My error remains with me.
5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach;
If, truly, you magnify yourselves over me, And decide my reproach against me;
6 Know now that God hath subverted my cause, and hath compassed me with His net.
Know now, that God turned me upside down, And has set around His net against me,
7 Behold, I cry out: 'Violence!' but I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no justice.
Behold, I cry out—violence, and am not answered, I cry aloud, and there is no judgment.
8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and hath set darkness in my paths.
He hedged up my way, and I do not pass over, And He places darkness on my paths.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
He has stripped my honor from off me, And He turns the crown from my head.
10 He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone; and my hope hath He plucked up like a tree.
He breaks me down all around, and I go, And removes my hope like a tree.
11 He hath also kindled His wrath against me, and He counteth me unto Him as one of His adversaries.
And He kindles His anger against me, And reckons me to Him as His adversaries.
12 His troops come on together, and cast up their way against me, and encamp round about my tent.
His troops come in together, And they raise up their way against me, And encamp around my tent.
13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
He has put my brothers far off from me, And my acquaintances have surely been estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
My neighbors have ceased And my familiar friends have forgotten me,
15 They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger; I am become an alien in their sight.
Sojourners of my house and my maids, Reckon me for a stranger; I have been an alien in their eyes.
16 I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, though I entreat him with my mouth.
I have called to my servant, And he does not answer, With my mouth I make supplication to him.
17 My breath is abhorred of my wife, and I am loathsome to the children of my tribe.
My spirit is strange to my wife, And my favors to the sons of my [mother’s] womb.
18 Even urchins despised me; if I arise, they speak against me.
Also sucklings have despised me, I rise, and they speak against me.
19 All my intimate friends abhor me; and they whom I loved are turned against me.
All the men of my counsel detest me, And those I have loved, Have been turned against me.
20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
To my skin and to my flesh My bone has cleaved, And I deliver myself with the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
Pity me, pity me, you my friends, For the hand of God has struck against me.
22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Why do you pursue me as God? And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Who grants now, that my words may be written? Who grants that they may be inscribed in a scroll?
24 That with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock for ever!
With a pen of iron and lead—They may be hewn in a rock forever.
25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He will witness at the last upon the dust;
That—I have known my Redeemer, The Living and the Last, For He raises the dust.
26 And when after my skin this is destroyed, then without my flesh shall I see God;
And after my skin has surrounded this [body], Then from my flesh I see God—
27 Whom I, even I, shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another's. My reins are consumed within me.
Whom I see on my side, And my eyes have beheld, and not a stranger, My reins have been consumed in my bosom.
28 If ye say: 'How we will persecute him!' seeing that the root of the matter is found in me;
But you say, Why do we pursue after him? And the root of the matter has been found in me.
29 Be ye afraid of the sword; for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
Be afraid because of the sword, For the punishments of the sword [are] furious, That you may know that [there is] a judgment.”
