Job 19
1 And Job answereth and saith: —
But Job answered and said:
2 Till when do ye afflict my soul, And bruise me with words?
How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times ye put me to shame, ye blush not. Ye make yourselves strange to me —
These ten times have ye reviled me; Without shame do ye stun me!
4 And also — truly, I have erred, With me doth my error remain.
And be it, indeed, that I have erred, My error abideth with myself.
5 If, truly, over me ye magnify yourselves, And decide against me my reproach;
Since, indeed, ye magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach,
6 Know now, that God turned me upside down, And His net against me hath set round,
Know then that it is God who hath brought me low; He hath encompassed me with his net.
7 Lo, I cry out — violence, and am not answered, I cry aloud, and there is no judgment.
Behold, I complain of wrong, but receive no answer; I cry aloud, but obtain no justice.
8 My way He hedged up, and I pass not over, And on my paths darkness He placeth.
He hath fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
9 Mine honour from off me He hath stripped, And He turneth the crown from my head.
He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
10 He breaketh me down round about, and I go, And removeth like a tree my hope.
He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone! He hath torn up my hope like a tree.
11 And He kindleth against me His anger, And reckoneth me to Him as His adversaries.
He kindleth his anger against me, And counteth me as his enemy.
12 Come in do His troops together, And they raise up against me their way, And encamp round about my tent.
His troops advance together against me; They throw up for themselves a way to me, And encamp around my dwelling.
13 My brethren from me He hath put far off, And mine acquaintances surely Have been estranged from me.
My brethren he hath put far from me, And my acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
14 Ceased have my neighbours And my familiar friends have forgotten me,
My kinsfolk have forsaken me, And my bosom friends have forgotten me.
15 Sojourners of my house and my maids, For a stranger reckon me: An alien I have been in their eyes.
The foreigners of my house, yea, my own maid-servants, regard me as a stranger; I am an alien in their eyes.
16 To my servant I have called, And he doth not answer, With my mouth I make supplication to him.
I call my servant, and he maketh no answer; With my own mouth do I entreat him.
17 My spirit is strange to my wife, And my favours to the sons of my [mother's] womb.
My breath is become strange to my wife, And my prayers also to my own mother's sons.
18 Also sucklings have despised me, I rise, and they speak against me.
Even young children despise me; When I rise up, they speak against me.
19 Abominate me do all the men of my counsel, And those I have loved, Have been turned against me.
All my bosom friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 To my skin and to my flesh Cleaved hath my bone, And I deliver myself with the skin of my teeth.
My bones cleave to my flesh and my skin, And I have scarcely escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, ye my friends, For the hand of God hath stricken against me.
Have pity upon me, O ye my friends! have pity upon me; For the hand of God hath smitten me!
22 Why do you pursue me as God? And with my flesh are not satisfied?
Why do ye persecute me like God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 Who doth grant now, That my words may be written? Who doth grant that in a book they may be graven?
O that my words were now written! O that they were marked down in a scroll!
24 With a pen of iron and lead — For ever in a rock they may be hewn.
That with an iron pen, and with lead, They were engraven upon the rock for ever!
25 That — I have known my Redeemer, The Living and the Last, For the dust he doth rise.
Yet I know that my Vindicator liveth, And will hereafter stand up on the earth;
26 And after my skin hath compassed this [body], Then from my flesh I see God:
And though with my skin this body be wasted away, Yet without my flesh shall I see God.
27 Whom I — I see on my side, And mine eyes have beheld, and not a stranger, Consumed have been my reins in my bosom.
Yea, I shall see him my friend; My eyes shall behold him, and not another: For this, my soul panteth within me.
28 But ye say, 'Why do we pursue after him?' And the root of the matter hath been found in me.
Since ye say, “How may we persecute him, And find grounds of accusation against him?”
29 Be ye afraid because of the sword, For furious [are] the punishments of the sword, That ye may know that [there is] a judgment.
Be ye afraid of the sword! For malice is a crime for the sword; That ye may know that judgment cometh.
