Job 19
1 Then Job answered and said,
But Job answered and said:
2 How long will you vex my soul, and destroy me with words? only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.
How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
3 You speak against me; you do not feel for me, but bear hard upon me.
These ten times have ye reviled me; Without shame do ye stun me!
4 Yes 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 be it, indeed, that I have erred, My error abideth with myself.
5 But alas! for you magnify yourselves against me, and insult me with reproach.
Since, indeed, ye magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach,
6 Know then that it is the Lord that has troubled [me], and has raised his bulwark against me.
Know then that it is God who hath brought me low; He hath encompassed me with his net.
7 Behold, I laugh at reproach; I will not speak: [or] I will cry out, but [there is] nowhere judgment.
Behold, I complain of wrong, but receive no answer; I cry aloud, but obtain no justice.
8 I am fenced round about, and can by no means escape: he has set darkness before my face.
He hath fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
9 And he has stripped me of my glory, and has taken the crown from my head.
He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken 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 hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone! He hath torn up my hope like a tree.
11 And he has dreadfully handled me in anger, and has counted me for an enemy.
He kindleth his anger against me, And counteth me as his enemy.
12 His troops also came upon me with one accord, liars in wait compassed my ways.
His troops advance together against me; They throw up for themselves a way to me, And encamp around my dwelling.
13 My brethren have stood aloof from me; they have recognized strangers [rather] than me: and my friends have become pitiless.
My brethren he hath put far from me, And my acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
14 My nearest of kin have not acknowledged me, and they that knew my name, have forgotten me.
My kinsfolk have forsaken me, And my bosom friends have forgotten me.
15 [As for] my household, and my maidservants, I was a stranger before them.
The foreigners of my house, yea, my own maid-servants, regard me as a stranger; I am an alien in their eyes.
16 I called my servant, and he listened not; and my mouth entreated [him].
I call my servant, and he maketh no answer; With my own mouth do I entreat him.
17 And I implored my wife, and earnestly entreated the sons of my concubines.
My breath is become strange to my wife, And my prayers also to my own mother's sons.
18 But they rejected me for ever; whenever I rise up, they speak against me.
Even young children despise me; When I rise up, they speak against me.
19 They that saw me abhorred me: the very persons whom I had loved, rose up against me.
All my bosom friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My flesh is corrupt under my skin, and my bones are held in [my] teeth.
My bones cleave to my flesh and my skin, And I have scarcely escaped 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.
Have pity upon me, O ye my friends! have pity upon me; For the hand of God hath smitten me!
22 Therefore do you persecute me as also the Lord [does], and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Why do ye persecute me like God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 For oh that my words were written, and that they were recorded in a book forever,
O that my words were now written! O that they were marked down in a scroll!
24 with an iron pen and lead, or graven in the rocks!
That with an iron pen, and with lead, They were engraven upon the rock for ever!
25 For I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me,
Yet I know that my Vindicator liveth, And will hereafter stand up on the earth;
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 though with my skin this body be wasted away, Yet without my flesh shall 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.
Yea, I shall see him my friend; My eyes shall behold him, and not another: For this, my soul panteth within me.
28 But if you shall also say, What shall we say before him, and [so] find the root of the matter in him?
Since ye say, “How may we persecute him, And find grounds of accusation against him?”
29 Do you also beware of deceit: for wrath will come upon transgressors; and then shall they know where their substance is.
Be ye afraid of the sword! For malice is a crime for the sword; That ye may know that judgment cometh.
