Job 19
1 Then answered Job, and said,
Then Job answered and said,
2 How long will ye grieve 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 when ye show yourselves as strangers to me.
These ten times you have reproached me; you are not ashamed that you have treated me harshly.
4 Yea, if it be indeed that I have erred, let my error remain with myself.
If it is indeed true that I have erred, my error remains my own concern.
5 But if indeed ye wish to magnify yourselves above me, and to prove against me my disgrace:
If indeed you will exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me,
6 Then know for certain that God hath bent me down, and hath laid his net all around me.
then you should know that God has done wrong to me and has caught me in his net.
7 Behold, I cry out concerning the violence [done me], but I am not answered: I entreat aloud, but there is no justice.
See, I cry out, “Violence!” but I get no answer. I call out for help, but there is no justice.
8 My road hath he fenced up, so that I cannot pass out; and on my paths he placeth darkness.
He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness in my path.
9 My glory hath he stripped from me, and removed the crown of my head.
He has stripped me of my glory, and he has taken the crown from my head.
10 He hath pulled me down on every side, and I am going hence; and he hath rooted up like a tree my hope.
He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone; he has pulled up my hope like a tree.
11 He hath also kindled against me his wrath, and he counteth me with himself as one of his adversaries.
He has also kindled his wrath against me; he regards me as one of his adversaries.
12 Altogether come on his troops, and make level against me their way, and encamp round about my tent.
His troops come on together; they cast up siege mounds against me and encamp around my tent.
13 My brothers hath he removed far from me, and my acquaintance are entirely estranged from me.
He has put my brothers far from me; my acquaintances are wholly alienated from me.
14 My near of kin have withdrawn, and those befriended by me have forgotten me.
My kinsfolk have failed me; my close friends have forgotten me.
15 Ye that sojourn in my house, and my maid-servants, regard me as a stranger: an alien am I become 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 call for my servant, but he will not answer, though I were to entreat 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 become nauseous to my wife, and my caressing, to the children of my own body.
My breath is offensive to my wife; I am even disgusting to those who were born from my mother's womb.
18 Yea, children even despise me: I rise up, but they speak against me.
Even young children despise me; if I rise to speak, they speak against me.
19 All that have had my confidence abominate me; and those whom I have loved are turned against me.
All my familiar friends abhor me; those whom I love have turned against me.
20 To my skin and to my flesh my bones do cleave, and I must sustain myself with the gums of my teeth.
My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh; I survive only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Spare me, spare me, O 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 will ye persecute me as God [hath done], and will never be satisfied with my flesh?
Why do you pursue me like God does? Will you ever be satisfied with my flesh?
23 Oh who would but grant, that my words might be written down! oh who would grant that they were entered in a book!
Oh, that my words were now written down! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
24 That they were hewn with an iron pen and [blackened with] lead for eternity in the hard rock!
Oh, that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 And well I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he will remain as the last after the creatures of the dust [are passed away];
But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at last he will stand on the earth;
26 And after my skin is cut to pieces will this be: and then freed from my body shall I behold God;
after my skin, that is, this body, is destroyed, then in my flesh I will see God.
27 Whom I shall myself behold to my happiness, and whom my eyes will see, and not as a stranger, [when even] my reins are consumed within my bosom.
I will see him with my own eyes—I, and not someone else. My heart fails within me.
28 But if ye should say, How will we pursue him? seeing 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 Then have dread for yourselves of the sword; for the wrath [which ye excite] is an iniquity that bringeth the sword; in order that ye may know there is one that judgeth [in the world].
then be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”
