Job 19
1 Then Job replied:
Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you [three] torment me and crush my spirit by saying to me [that I am wicked]?
“How long will you torment me and crush me with your words?
3 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]
Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.
4 Even if it were true that I have done things that are wrong, I have not injured you!
Even if I have truly gone astray, my error concerns me alone.
5 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),
If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my disgrace against me,
6 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.
then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.
7 “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.
Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
8 [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.
He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
9 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.
He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.
10 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].
He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.
11 He attacks me because he is extremely angry with me [MET], and he considers that I am his enemy.
His anger burns against me, and He counts me among His enemies.
12 [It is as though] he sends his army to attack me; they surround my tent, preparing to attack me.
His troops advance together; they construct a ramp against me and encamp around my tent.
13 “God has caused my brothers to abandon me, and all those who know me act like strangers to me.
He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me.
14 All my relatives and good friends have left me.
My kinsmen have failed me, and my friends have forgotten me.
15 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.
My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 When I summon my servants, they do not answer; I plead with them to come [to help me, but they do not come].
I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth.
17 My wife does not want to come close to me because my breath [smells very bad], and even my brothers detest me.
My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me; when I stand up [to talk to them], they laugh at me.
Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.
19 My dearest friends detest me, and those whom I love [very much] have turned against me.
All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.
20 My body is [only] skin and bones; I am barely alive [IDM].
My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 [“I plead with] you, my [three] friends, pity me, because God has (struck [EUP] me with his hand/caused me to suffer greatly).
Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you cause me to suffer like God does? Why do you continue to slander [MET] me?
Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 “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].
I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,
24 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.
by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.
25 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].
But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
26 And even after diseases have eaten away my skin, while I still have my body, I will see God.
Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
27 I will see him myself; I will see him with my own eyes! I am overwhelmed [as I think about that]!
I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!
28 “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],’
If you say, ‘Let us persecute him, since the root of the matter lies with him,’
29 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].”
then you should fear the sword yourselves, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”
