Job 19
1 But Job answered and said:
Then Job answered:
2 How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
“How long will you torment me and crush me with your words?
3 These ten times have ye reviled me; Without shame do ye stun me!
Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.
4 And be it, indeed, that I have erred, My error abideth with myself.
Even if I have truly gone astray, my error concerns me alone.
5 Since, indeed, ye magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach,
If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my disgrace against me,
6 Know then that it is God who hath brought me low; He hath encompassed me with his net.
then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.
7 Behold, I complain of wrong, but receive no answer; I cry aloud, but obtain no justice.
Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
8 He hath fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.
10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone! He hath torn up my hope like a tree.
He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.
11 He kindleth his anger against me, And counteth me as his enemy.
His anger burns against me, and He counts me among His enemies.
12 His troops advance together against me; They throw up for themselves a way to me, And encamp around my dwelling.
His troops advance together; they construct a ramp against me and encamp around my tent.
13 My brethren he hath put far from me, And my acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me.
14 My kinsfolk have forsaken me, And my bosom friends have forgotten me.
My kinsmen have failed me, and my friends have forgotten me.
15 The foreigners of my house, yea, my own maid-servants, regard me as a stranger; I am an alien in their eyes.
My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call my servant, and he maketh no answer; With my own mouth do I entreat him.
I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is become strange to my wife, And my prayers also to my own mother's sons.
My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me; When I rise up, they speak against me.
Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.
19 All my bosom friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.
20 My bones cleave to my flesh and my skin, And I have scarcely escaped with the skin of my teeth.
My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, O ye my friends! have pity upon me; For the hand of God hath smitten me!
Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do ye persecute me like God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 O that my words were now written! O that they were marked down in a scroll!
I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,
24 That with an iron pen, and with lead, They were engraven upon the rock for ever!
by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.
25 Yet I know that my Vindicator liveth, And will hereafter stand up on the earth;
But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
26 And though with my skin this body be wasted away, Yet without my flesh shall I see God.
Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
27 Yea, I shall see him my friend; My eyes shall behold him, and not another: For this, my soul panteth within me.
I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!
28 Since ye say, “How may we persecute him, And find grounds of accusation against him?”
If you say, ‘Let us persecute him, since the root of the matter lies with him,’
29 Be ye afraid of the sword! For malice is a crime for the sword; That ye may know that judgment cometh.
then you should fear the sword yourselves, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”
