Job 19
1 Then responded Job, and said: —
Then Job replied:
2 How long will ye grieve my soul? or crush 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, have ye reviled me, Shameless ye wrong 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 even if indeed I have erred, with myself lodgeth mine error.
Even if it were true that I have done things that are wrong, I have not injured you!
5 If indeed, against me, ye must needs magnify yourselves, and plead, against me, my reproach.
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, then, that, God, hath overthrown me, and, within his net, enclosed 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 Lo! I cry—out: Violence! but receive no answer, I cry aloud, but there is no vindication;
“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 My way, hath he walled up, that I cannot pass, and, upon my paths, hath he made darkness rest;
[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 My glory—from off me, hath he stripped, and hath removed the crown of 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 hath ruined me on every side, and I am gone, and he hath taken away—like a tree—my hope;
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 Yea he hath kindled against me his anger, and accounted me towards him like unto his adversaries;
He attacks me because he is extremely angry with me [MET], and he considers that I am his enemy.
12 Together, enter his troops and have cast up, against me, their mound, and have encamped all around my tent;
[It is as though] he sends his army to attack me; they surround my tent, preparing to attack me.
13 My Brethren—from beside me, hath he moved far away, and, mine acquaintance, are wholly estranged from me;
“God has caused my brothers to abandon me, and all those who know me act like strangers to me.
14 Failed me, have my near of kin, and, mine intimate acquaintances, have forgotten me;
All my relatives and good friends have left me.
15 Ye guests of my house and my maidens, A stranger, have ye accounted me, An alien, have I become 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 To mine own servant, I called, and he would not answer, With mine own mouth, I kept entreating 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 breath, is strange to my wife, and I am loathsome to the sons of my own mother;
My wife does not want to come close to me because my breath [smells very bad], and even my brothers detest me.
18 Even young children, despise me, I rise up, 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 mine intimate circle abhor me, and, these whom I loved, have turned against me;
My dearest friends detest me, and those whom I love [very much] have turned against me.
20 Unto my skin and unto my flesh, have my bones cleaved, and I have escaped with the akin of my teeth.
My body is [only] skin and bones; I am barely alive [IDM].
21 Pity me! pity me! ye, my friends, for, the hand of GOD, hath stricken 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 Wherefore should ye persecute me as GOD? and, with my flesh, should not he satisfied?
Why do you cause me to suffer like God does? Why do you continue to slander [MET] me?
23 Oh, then, that my words, could be written, Oh that, in a record, they could be inscribed:
“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 That, with a stylus of iron and [with] lead, for all time—in the rock, they could be graven!
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 But, I, know that, my redeemer, liveth, and, as the Last over [my] dust, will he arise;
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, though, after my skin is struck off, this [followeth], yet, apart from my flesh, shall 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 myself, shall see, on my side, and, mine own eyes, [shall] have looked upon, and not those of a stranger. Exhausted are my deepest desires 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 Surely ye should say—Why should we persecute him? seeing, the root of the matter, is 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 ye afraid—on your part—of the face of the sword, because, wrath, [bringeth] the punishments of the sword, to the end ye may know the Almighty.
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].”
