Job 19
1 And Job answers and says:
Then Job replied:
2 “Until when do you afflict my soul, And bruise me with words?
“How long will you [three] torment me and crush my spirit by saying to me [that I am wicked]?
3 These ten times you put me to shame, you do not blush. You make yourselves strange to me—
You have already insulted me many [HYP] times; (are you not ashamed for saying these things to me?/you should be ashamed for saying these things to me.) [RHQ]
4 And also—truly, I have erred, My error remains with me.
Even if it were true that I have done things that are wrong, I have not injured you!
5 If, truly, you magnify yourselves over me, And decide my reproach against me;
If you truly think that you are better than I am, and you think that my being miserable now proves that I (am guilty/have committed many sins),
6 Know now, that God turned me upside down, And has set around His net against me,
you need to realize that it is God who has caused me to suffer. [It is as though] he has trapped me with his net.
7 Behold, I cry out—violence, and am not answered, I cry aloud, and there is no judgment.
“I cry out, ‘Help me!’, but no one answers me. I call out loudly, but there is no one, [not even God, ] who acts fairly toward me.
8 He hedged up my way, and I do not pass over, And He places darkness on my paths.
[It is as though] [MET] God has blocked my way, with the result that I cannot go where I want to; [it is as though] he has forced me to try to find my way in the darkness.
9 He has stripped my honor from off me, And He turns the crown from my head.
He has (taken away my good reputation/caused people not to honor me any more); [it is as though] he removed [MET] a crown from my head.
10 He breaks me down all around, and I go, And removes my hope like a tree.
He batters me from every side, and I will soon die. He has caused me to no longer confidently expect [him to do good things for me].
11 And He kindles His anger against me, And reckons me to Him as His adversaries.
He attacks me because he is extremely angry with me [MET], and he considers that I am his enemy.
12 His troops come in together, And they raise up their way against me, And encamp around my tent.
[It is as though] he sends his army to attack me; they surround my tent, preparing to attack me.
13 He has put my brothers far off from me, And my acquaintances have surely been estranged from me.
“God has caused my brothers to abandon me, and all those who know me act like strangers to me.
14 My neighbors have ceased And my familiar friends have forgotten me,
All my relatives and good friends have left me.
15 Sojourners of my house and my maids, Reckon me for a stranger; I have been an alien in their eyes.
The people who were guests in my house have forgotten me, and my female servants consider that I am a stranger or that I am a foreigner.
16 I have called to my servant, And he does not answer, With my mouth I make supplication to him.
When I summon my servants, they do not answer; I plead with them to come [to help me, but they do not come].
17 My spirit is strange to my wife, And my favors to the sons of my [mother’s] womb.
My wife does not want to come close to me because my breath [smells very bad], and even my brothers detest me.
18 Also sucklings have despised me, I rise, and they speak against me.
Even young children despise me; when I stand up [to talk to them], they laugh at me.
19 All the men of my counsel detest me, And those I have loved, Have been turned against me.
My dearest friends detest me, and those whom I love [very much] have turned against me.
20 To my skin and to my flesh My bone has cleaved, And I deliver myself with the skin of my teeth.
My body is [only] skin and bones; I am barely alive [IDM].
21 Pity me, pity me, you my friends, For the hand of God has struck against me.
[“I plead with] you, my [three] friends, pity me, because God has (struck [EUP] me with his hand/caused me to suffer greatly).
22 Why do you pursue me as God? And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Why do you cause me to suffer like God does? Why do you continue to slander [MET] me?
23 Who grants now, that my words may be written? Who grants that they may be inscribed in a scroll?
“I wish/desire that someone would take these words of mine and write them permanently in a book [in order that people can read them].
24 With a pen of iron and lead—They may be hewn in a rock forever.
Or else, I wish that he would carve them on a rock with (a chisel/an iron tool) in order that they would last forever.
25 That—I have known my Redeemer, The Living and the Last, For He raises the dust.
But I know that the one who vindicates/defends me in court is alive, and that some day he will stand [here] on the earth [and make the final decision about whether I deserve to be punished].
26 And after my skin has surrounded this [body], Then from my flesh I see God—
And even after diseases have eaten away my skin, while I still have my body, I will see God.
27 Whom I see on my side, And my eyes have beheld, and not a stranger, My reins have been consumed in my bosom.
I will see him myself; I will see him with my own eyes! I am overwhelmed [as I think about that]!
28 But you say, Why do we pursue after him? And the root of the matter has been found in me.
“If you three men say, ‘What more can we do to cause Job to suffer?’ and if you say, ‘He has caused his own [troubles],’
29 Be afraid because of the sword, For the punishments of the sword [are] furious, That you may know that [there is] a judgment.”
you should be afraid that God will punish [MTY] you; he punishes those [like you] with whom he is angry; and when that happens, you will know that there is [someone who] judges [people].”
