Job 19
1 But Job answered and said:
Job replied,
2 How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
“How long will you go on tormenting me? How long will you go on crushing me with words?
3 These ten times have ye reviled me; Without shame do ye stun me!
Ten times already you have humiliated me. Aren't you ashamed for treating me so badly?
4 And be it, indeed, that I have erred, My error abideth with myself.
Even if I did sin, that's my problem, and has nothing to do with you.
5 Since, indeed, ye magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach,
You think you're so much better than me, and you use my degradation against me.
6 Know then that it is God who hath brought me low; He hath encompassed me with his net.
But you should realize that it's God who has wronged me, he has trapped me in his net.
7 Behold, I complain of wrong, but receive no answer; I cry aloud, but obtain no justice.
Even though I cry for help, I get no answer; even though I shout my objections, I get no justice.
8 He hath fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
God has walled me in so I can't escape; he has plunged my path into darkness.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
He has stripped my honor from me; he has taken away my reputation.
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 from all sides until I am finished; he has destroyed my hope like a tree that is uprooted.
11 He kindleth his anger against me, And counteth me as his enemy.
His anger burns against me; he treats me as one of his enemies.
12 His troops advance together against me; They throw up for themselves a way to me, And encamp around my dwelling.
God's troops assemble to attack me. They build ramparts against me. They encircle and besiege my home.
13 My brethren he hath put far from me, And my acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
He has driven my brothers far away from me; all my former friends are estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk have forsaken me, And my bosom friends have forgotten me.
My relatives have abandoned me; my close 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 house guests and my maidservants treat me as a stranger—to them I have become a foreigner.
16 I call my servant, and he maketh no answer; With my own mouth do I entreat him.
I call my servant, but he doesn't reply. I have to beg him!
17 My breath is become strange to my wife, And my prayers also to my own mother's sons.
I am repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 Even young children despise me; When I rise up, they speak against me.
Even young children despise me; when I stand up they ridicule me.
19 All my bosom friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
All my closest friends despise me, and those I loved have turned on me.
20 My bones cleave to my flesh and my skin, And I have scarcely escaped with the skin of my teeth.
I've been reduced to skin and bones and I survive 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 on me, because God has struck me down!
22 Why do ye persecute me like God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Why are you persecuting me like God does? Aren't you satisfied with getting your pound of flesh?
23 O that my words were now written! O that they were marked down in a scroll!
I wish my words could be written down, recorded in a book,
24 That with an iron pen, and with lead, They were engraven upon the rock for ever!
or engraved with an iron pen and molten lead in the rock forever.
25 Yet I know that my Vindicator liveth, And will hereafter stand up on the earth;
I know my Redeemer is alive, and that he shall finally take the stand for me on the earth.
26 And though with my skin this body be wasted away, Yet without my flesh shall I see God.
Even though my skin is destroyed, in my body I shall 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 myself will see him—with my own eyes, and not those of someone else! The thought overcomes me!
28 Since ye say, “How may we persecute him, And find grounds of accusation against him?”
You say to yourselves, ‘How can we make him suffer so he can see he is the source of his problems?’
29 Be ye afraid of the sword! For malice is a crime for the sword; That ye may know that judgment cometh.
You yourselves should fear being punished by God, for you know anger brings God's punishment that accompanies judgment.”
