Job 19
1 Then Job answered and said,
Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you make me suffer and break me into pieces with words?
“How long will you torment me and crush me with your words?
3 These ten times you have reproached me; you are not ashamed that you have treated me harshly.
Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.
4 If it is indeed true that I have erred, my error remains my own concern.
Even if I have truly gone astray, my error concerns me alone.
5 If indeed you will exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me,
If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my disgrace against me,
6 then you should know that God has done wrong to me and has caught me in his net.
then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.
7 See, I cry out, “Violence!” but I get no answer. I call out for help, but there is no justice.
Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
8 He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness in my path.
He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
9 He has stripped me of my glory, and he has taken the crown from my head.
He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.
10 He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone; he has pulled up my hope like a tree.
He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.
11 He has also kindled his wrath against me; he regards me as one of his adversaries.
His anger burns against me, and He counts me among His enemies.
12 His troops come on together; they cast up siege mounds against me and encamp around my tent.
His troops advance together; they construct a ramp against me and encamp around my tent.
13 He has put my brothers far from me; my acquaintances are wholly alienated from me.
He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed me; my close friends have forgotten me.
My kinsmen have failed me, and my friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who once stayed as guests in my house and my female servants regard me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.
My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer although I entreat him with my mouth.
I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife; I am even disgusting to those who were born from my mother's womb.
My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me; if I rise to speak, they speak against me.
Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.
19 All my familiar friends abhor me; those whom I love have turned against me.
All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.
20 My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh; I survive only by the skin of my teeth.
My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, my friends, for the hand of God has touched me.
Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me like God does? Will you ever be satisfied with my flesh?
Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 Oh, that my words were now written down! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,
24 Oh, that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.
25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at last he will stand on the earth;
But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
26 after my skin, that is, this body, is destroyed, then in my flesh I will see God.
Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
27 I will see him with my own eyes—I, and not someone else. My heart fails within me.
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 say, 'How we will persecute him! The root of his troubles lies in him,'
If you say, ‘Let us persecute him, since the root of the matter lies with him,’
29 then be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”
then you should fear the sword yourselves, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”
