Job 19
1 Then Job replied:
But Job answered and said:
2 “How long will you [three] torment me and crush my spirit by saying to me [that I am wicked]?
How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with 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]
These ten times have ye reviled me; Without shame do ye stun me!
4 Even if it were true that I have done things that are wrong, I have not injured you!
And be it, indeed, that I have erred, My error abideth with myself.
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),
Since, indeed, ye magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach,
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.
Know then that it is God who hath brought me low; He hath encompassed me with his net.
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.
Behold, I complain of wrong, but receive no answer; I cry aloud, but obtain 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 hath fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
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 hath stripped me of my glory, And taken 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 hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone! He hath torn up 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.
He kindleth his anger against me, And counteth me as his enemy.
12 [It is as though] he sends his army to attack me; they surround my tent, preparing to attack me.
His troops advance together against me; They throw up for themselves a way to me, And encamp around my dwelling.
13 “God has caused my brothers to abandon me, and all those who know me act like strangers to me.
My brethren he hath put far from me, And my acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
14 All my relatives and good friends have left me.
My kinsfolk have forsaken me, And my bosom 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.
The foreigners of my house, yea, my own maid-servants, regard me as a stranger; I am an alien in their eyes.
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 my servant, and he maketh no answer; With my own mouth do I entreat him.
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 become strange to my wife, And my prayers also to my own mother's sons.
18 Even young children despise me; when I stand up [to talk to them], they laugh at me.
Even young children despise me; When I rise up, they speak against me.
19 My dearest friends detest me, and those whom I love [very much] have turned against me.
All my bosom friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My body is [only] skin and bones; I am barely alive [IDM].
My bones cleave to my flesh and my skin, And I have scarcely escaped with 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 upon me, O ye my friends! have pity upon me; For the hand of God hath smitten me!
22 Why do you cause me to suffer like God does? Why do you continue to slander [MET] me?
Why do ye persecute me like God, And are not satisfied with 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].
O that my words were now written! O that they were marked down in a scroll!
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.
That with an iron pen, and with lead, They were engraven upon the rock for ever!
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].
Yet I know that my Vindicator liveth, And will hereafter stand up on the earth;
26 And even after diseases have eaten away my skin, while I still have my body, I will see God.
And though with my skin this body be wasted away, Yet without my flesh shall I see God.
27 I will see him myself; I will see him with my own eyes! I am overwhelmed [as I think about that]!
Yea, I shall see him my friend; My eyes shall behold him, and not another: For this, my soul panteth 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],’
Since ye say, “How may we persecute him, And find grounds of accusation against 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].”
Be ye afraid of the sword! For malice is a crime for the sword; That ye may know that judgment cometh.
