Job 19
1 Then answered Job, and said,
Then Job answered,
2 How long will ye grieve my soul, and crush me with words?
“How long will you torment me, and crush me with words?
3 These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed when ye show yourselves as strangers to me.
You have reproached me ten times. You aren’t ashamed that you attack me.
4 Yea, if it be indeed that I have erred, let my error remain with myself.
If it is true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.
5 But if indeed ye wish to magnify yourselves above me, and to prove against me my disgrace:
If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach,
6 Then know for certain that God hath bent me down, and hath laid his net all around me.
know now that God has subverted me, and has surrounded me with 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.
“Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard. I cry 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 can’t pass, and has set darkness in my paths.
9 My glory hath he stripped from me, and removed the crown of my head.
He has stripped me of my glory, and 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 plucked my hope up 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 counts me among 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, build a siege ramp 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 estranged from me.
14 My near of kin have withdrawn, and those befriended by me have forgotten me.
My relatives have gone away. My familiar 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 dwell in my house and my maids consider me 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, and he gives me no answer. I beg 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 loathsome to the children of my own mother.
18 Yea, children even despise me: I rise up, but they speak against me.
Even young children despise me. If I arise, 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. They whom I loved 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 stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped 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 on me. Have pity on me, you 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 persecute me as God, and are not 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! 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!
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. In the end, he will stand upon 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 is destroyed, then I will see God in my flesh,
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.
whom I, even I, will see on my side. My eyes will see, and not as a stranger. “My heart is consumed 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!’ because the root of the matter is found in me,
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].
be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.”
