Job 19
1 But Job answered and said:
Then answered Job, and said,
2 How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
How long will ye grieve my soul, and crush me with words?
3 These ten times have ye reviled me; Without shame do ye stun me!
These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed when ye show yourselves as strangers to me.
4 And be it, indeed, that I have erred, My error abideth with myself.
Yea, if it be indeed that I have erred, let my error remain with myself.
5 Since, indeed, ye magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach,
But if indeed ye wish to magnify yourselves above me, and to prove against me my disgrace:
6 Know then that it is God who hath brought me low; He hath encompassed me with his net.
Then know for certain that God hath bent me down, and hath laid his net all around me.
7 Behold, I complain of wrong, but receive no answer; I cry aloud, but obtain no justice.
Behold, I cry out concerning the violence [done me], but I am not answered: I entreat aloud, but there is no justice.
8 He hath fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
My road hath he fenced up, so that I cannot pass out; and on my paths he placeth darkness.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
My glory hath he stripped from me, and removed the crown of my head.
10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone! He hath torn up my hope like a tree.
He hath pulled me down on every side, and I am going hence; and he hath rooted up like a tree my hope.
11 He kindleth his anger against me, And counteth me as his enemy.
He hath also kindled against me his wrath, and he counteth me with himself as one of his adversaries.
12 His troops advance together against me; They throw up for themselves a way to me, And encamp around my dwelling.
Altogether come on his troops, and make level against me their way, and encamp round about my tent.
13 My brethren he hath put far from me, And my acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
My brothers hath he removed far from me, and my acquaintance are entirely estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk have forsaken me, And my bosom friends have forgotten me.
My near of kin have withdrawn, and those befriended by me have forgotten me.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.
Ye that sojourn in my house, and my maid-servants, regard me as a stranger: an alien am I become in their eyes.
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 will not answer, though I were to entreat him with my mouth.
17 My breath is become strange to my wife, And my prayers also to my own mother's sons.
My breath is become nauseous to my wife, and my caressing, to the children of my own body.
18 Even young children despise me; When I rise up, they speak against me.
Yea, children even despise me: I rise up, but they speak against me.
19 All my bosom friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
All that have had my confidence abominate me; and those whom I have loved are turned against me.
20 My bones cleave to my flesh and my skin, And I have scarcely escaped with the skin of my teeth.
To my skin and to my flesh my bones do cleave, and I must sustain myself with the gums of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, O ye my friends! have pity upon me; For the hand of God hath smitten me!
Spare me, spare me, O ye, my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me like God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Why will ye persecute me as God [hath done], and will never be satisfied with my flesh?
23 O that my words were now written! O that they were marked down in a scroll!
Oh who would but grant, that my words might be written down! oh who would grant that they were entered in a book!
24 That with an iron pen, and with lead, They were engraven upon the rock for ever!
That they were hewn with an iron pen and [blackened with] lead for eternity in the hard rock!
25 Yet I know that my Vindicator liveth, And will hereafter stand up on the earth;
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];
26 And though with my skin this body be wasted away, Yet without my flesh shall I see God.
And after my skin is cut to pieces will this be: and then freed from my body shall I behold God;
27 Yea, I shall see him my friend; My eyes shall behold him, and not another: For this, my soul panteth within me.
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.
28 Since ye say, “How may we persecute him, And find grounds of accusation against him?”
But if ye should say, How will we pursue him? seeing the root of the matter is found in me:
29 Be ye afraid of the sword! For malice is a crime for the sword; That ye may know that judgment cometh.
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].
