約伯記 19
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
約伯的回答
19 約伯回答說：
2 「你們要折磨我多久？
用言語壓碎我到何時？
3 你們侮辱我已有十次之多，
苦待我也不以為恥。
4 即使我真有過錯，
也由我獨自承擔。
5 你們若真要妄自尊大，
利用我的恥辱來指責我，
6 也該知道是上帝冤枉了我，
用網羅套住我。
7 我喊冤，卻無人回應；
我呼救，卻不見公道。
8 上帝築起牆壘，阻斷我的路，
祂使黑暗籠罩我的路途。
9 祂剝去我的榮耀，
摘走我頭上的冠冕。
10 祂從四面攻擊我，直到我消逝；
祂把我的希望像樹一樣連根拔除。
11 祂向我發烈怒，
視我為仇敵。
12 祂的大軍蜂擁而來，
在我帳篷四周紮營，
將我團團圍住。
13 「祂使我的弟兄遠離我，
我的熟人完全背棄我。
14 我的親屬離開我，
我的摯友忘記我。
15 我的客人和婢女都視我如陌路，
把我當作外族人。
16 我呼喚僕人，他卻不回應；
我哀求他，他也不理睬。
17 我妻子厭惡我的氣息，
我的手足都嫌棄我。
18 連小孩子都鄙視我；
我一出現，他們就嘲笑我。
19 我的密友都憎惡我，
我愛的人也反對我。
20 我瘦得只剩下皮包骨，
我離死亡僅一線之隔[a]。
21 「我的朋友啊，可憐我吧！可憐我吧！
因為上帝的手擊打我。
22 你們為何像上帝一樣逼我？
為何吃了我的肉還不滿足？
23 但願把我的話寫下來，
記錄在書卷上，
24 用鐵筆和鉛鐫刻在磐石上，
直存到永遠。
25 我知道我的救贖主活著，
最後祂必站在地上。
26 我的皮肉雖然要朽爛，
但我必活著[b]見上帝。
27 我要親自見祂，
我要親眼見祂。
我心中充滿渴望！
28 你們說禍根在我身上，
還想繼續迫害我。
29 你們自己應當畏懼刀劍，
因為烈怒會帶來刀劍的懲罰，
那時你們將知道有審判。」
Job 19
The Voice
19 Job answered his friends in frustration.
2 Job: O how long! How long will you torture me and pound me with your chatter?
3 What is it now? Eight times? Nine times?
No, surely it’s ten times you have insulted me.
Ten times you’ve shamelessly acted to harm me.
4 Even if I have erred, my faults lie with me alone.
5 However, if you must exalt yourselves at my expense,
if you must proffer my own disgrace as evidence against me,
6 Then you ought at least to know that I have been wronged by God.
Yes, His net is closed about me.
7 Look! I cry out, “Violence!” but no response comes.
I shout for help, but justice eludes me.
8 He is a roadblock. He will not let me pass;
He has covered my roads in darkness.
9 He has stripped me of my honor,
torn the crown off my head.
10 He comes at me from all sides, but I attempt to leave;
He rips out my hope as if it were a tree in dry ground.
11 His anger burns white-hot against me,
and He considers me His enemy.
12 His militia arrives to raise a siege ramp against me
and to surround my dwelling.
13 He has driven my relatives far from me;
I am cut off from my friends.
14 My entire family has failed me;
my best friends have forgotten me.
15 Everyone in my house, including my maidservants,
treats me like an outsider;
I am a stranger to them now.
16 When I send for my servant, he does not come.
I even plead with him with my own voice.
17 My breath is strange; even my wife avoids me;
I’m loathsome to my relatives; they can’t stand to be around me.
18 Even young children taunt me,
and when I seek to rise, they mock me.
19 My closest friends can no longer bear me,
and anyone I have ever loved has turned against me.
20 I am reduced to skin and bones;
I have barely escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Show me your pity, my friends, show me your pity!
For truly, I have been struck by the hand of God.
22 Why do you pursue me as God has done?
Is my emaciated body not satisfying enough for you?
23 What I would give to have my words taken down,
to have them inscribed for posterity on a scroll.
24 No! More than that!
To have them chiseled with iron filled with lead—
carved in stone for all eternity.
25 Besides, I know my Redeemer lives,
and in the end He will rise and take His stand on the earth.
26 And though my skin has been stripped off,
still, in my flesh, I will see God.
27 I, myself, will see Him:
not some stranger, but actually me, with these eyes.
Toward this end, my deepest longings pine away within my chest.
Literally, a redeemer “buys back” something that was taken away. In the Old Testament, kinsmen-redeemers are men who buy their relatives out of slavery, buy family property back from creditors, or marry their brothers’ widows to save the women from destitution. What is it that Job needs returned to him? Acknowledgment of his innocence and a renewed life. Because all of his family and friends have abandoned him, Job is trusting in his plea to God. As he did in chapter 16, Job is personifying his words and hoping in the redemptive power of his own argument.
Many millennia later, Christians do not have to trust in their own actions or persuasive reasoning to save their lives. Jesus redeemed all when He died on the cross—trading Himself to buy back our lives. He is the ultimate Redeemer.
28 Job: If you ask, “How will we pursue him
since the root cause of his suffering lies in him?”
29 You ought to fear the sword yourselves;
for the sword bears fury’s punishment
in order that you might realize there is, in fact, a judgment.
Job 19
International Children’s Bible
Job Answers Bildad
19 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you hurt me
and crush me with your words?
3 You have insulted me ten times now.
You attack me without shame.
4 If I have sinned,
it is my worry alone.
5 Maybe you want to make yourselves look better than I do
so you can blame me for my suffering.
6 Then know that God has wronged me.
He has pulled his net around me.
7 “I shout, ‘I have been wronged!’
But I get no answer.
I call loudly for help,
but I receive no justice.
8 God has blocked my way so I cannot pass.
He has covered my paths with darkness.
9 He has taken away my honor.
He has removed the crown from my head.
10 He beats me down on every side until I am gone.
He pulls up my hope as a tree is pulled up by its roots.
11 His anger burns against me.
And he treats me as one of his enemies.
12 His armies gather.
They prepare a way to attack me.
They camp around my tent.
13 “God has made my brothers my enemies.
My friends have become complete strangers.
14 My relatives have gone away.
My friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my women servants think of me as a stranger.
They look at me as if I were a foreigner.
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer.
I even beg him with my own mouth.
17 My wife hates my breath.
My own family hates me.
18 Even the little boys hate me.
When I leave, they talk about me.
19 All my close friends hate me.
Even those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones.
I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, my friends. Pity me!
The hand of God has hit me.
22 Why do you chase me as God does?
Haven’t you had enough of hurting my body?
23 “How I wish my words were written down.
I wish they were written on a scroll.
24 I wish they were carved with an iron pen into lead,
or carved into stone forever!
25 I know that my Defender lives.
And in the end he will come to show that I am right.
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,
in my flesh I will still see God.
27 I will see him myself.
I myself will see him with my own eyes.
How my heart wants that to happen!
28 “You may say, ‘We will continue to trouble Job.
The problem lies with him.’
29 But you should be afraid of the sword yourselves.
God’s anger will bring punishment by the sword.
Then you will know that there is judgment.”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
