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Chapter 19

Job’s Fifth Reply. [a]Then Job answered and said:

How long will you afflict my spirit,
    grind me down with words?
These ten times you have humiliated me,
    have assailed me without shame!
Even if it were true that I am at fault,
    my fault would remain with me;
If truly you exalt yourselves at my expense,
    and use my shame as an argument against me,
Know then that it is God who has dealt unfairly with me,
    and compassed me round with his net.
If I cry out “Violence!” I am not answered.(A)
    I shout for help, but there is no justice.
He has barred my way and I cannot pass;
    veiled my path in darkness;
He has stripped me of my glory,
    taken the diadem from my brow.
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
    he has uprooted my hope like a tree.
11 He has kindled his wrath against me;
    he counts me one of his enemies.(B)
12 His troops advance as one;
    they build up their road to attack me,
    encamp around my tent.
13 My family has withdrawn from me,(C)
    my friends are wholly estranged.
14 My relatives and companions neglect me,
    my guests have forgotten me.
15 Even my maidservants consider me a stranger;
    I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call my servant, but he gives no answer,
    though I plead aloud with him.
17 My breath is abhorrent to my wife;(D)
    I am loathsome to my very children.
18 Even young children despise me;
    when I appear, they speak against me.
19 All my intimate friends hold me in horror;
    those whom I loved have turned against me!(E)
20 My bones cling to my skin,
    and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.[b]
21 Pity me, pity me, you my friends,
    for the hand of God has struck me!
22 Why do you pursue me like God,
    and prey insatiably upon me?
23 Oh, would that my words were written down!(F)
    Would that they were inscribed in a record:[c]
24 That with an iron chisel and with lead
    they were cut in the rock forever!
25 As for me, I know that my vindicator lives,[d]
    and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust.(G)
26 This will happen when my skin has been stripped off,
    and from my flesh I will see God:
27 I will see for myself,
    my own eyes, not another’s, will behold him:
    my inmost being is consumed with longing.
28 But you who say, “How shall we persecute him,
    seeing that the root of the matter is found in him?”
29 Be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
    for your anger is a crime deserving the sword;
    that you may know that there is a judgment.

Footnotes

  1. 19:1 Job continues railing against his friends (vv. 2–5), and describing God’s savage attack in words reminiscent of 16:9–17.
  2. 19:20 Skin of my teeth: although the metaphor is not clear, this has become a proverbial expression for a narrow escape. It does not fit Job’s situation here.
  3. 19:23–24 What Job is about to say is so important that he wants it recorded in a permanent manner.
  4. 19:25–27 The meaning of this passage is obscure because the original text has been poorly preserved and the ancient versions do not agree among themselves. Job asserts three times that he shall see a future vindicator (Hebrew goel), but he leaves the time and manner of this vindication undefined. The Vulgate translation has Job indicating a belief in resurrection after death, but the Hebrew and the other ancient versions are less specific.

Job

19 Then Job replied:

“How long will you torment(A) me
    and crush(B) me with words?
Ten times(C) now you have reproached(D) me;
    shamelessly you attack me.
If it is true that I have gone astray,
    my error(E) remains my concern alone.
If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me(F)
    and use my humiliation against me,
then know that God has wronged me(G)
    and drawn his net(H) around me.(I)

“Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response;(J)
    though I call for help,(K) there is no justice.(L)
He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;(M)
    he has shrouded my paths in darkness.(N)
He has stripped(O) me of my honor(P)
    and removed the crown from my head.(Q)
10 He tears me down(R) on every side till I am gone;
    he uproots my hope(S) like a tree.(T)
11 His anger(U) burns against me;
    he counts me among his enemies.(V)
12 His troops advance in force;(W)
    they build a siege ramp(X) against me
    and encamp around my tent.(Y)

13 “He has alienated my family(Z) from me;
    my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.(AA)
14 My relatives have gone away;
    my closest friends(AB) have forgotten me.
15 My guests(AC) and my female servants(AD) count me a foreigner;
    they look on me as on a stranger.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
    though I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
    I am loathsome(AE) to my own family.
18 Even the little boys(AF) scorn me;
    when I appear, they ridicule me.(AG)
19 All my intimate friends(AH) detest me;(AI)
    those I love have turned against me.(AJ)
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;(AK)
    I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.[a]

21 “Have pity on me, my friends,(AL) have pity,
    for the hand of God has struck(AM) me.
22 Why do you pursue(AN) me as God does?(AO)
    Will you never get enough of my flesh?(AP)

23 “Oh, that my words were recorded,
    that they were written on a scroll,(AQ)
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool(AR) on[b] lead,
    or engraved in rock forever!(AS)
25 I know that my redeemer[c](AT) lives,(AU)
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.[d]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet[e] in[f] my flesh I will see God;(AV)
27 I myself will see him
    with my own eyes(AW)—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns(AX) within me!

28 “If you say, ‘How we will hound(AY) him,
    since the root of the trouble lies in him,[g]
29 you should fear the sword yourselves;
    for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,(AZ)
    and then you will know that there is judgment.[h](BA)

Footnotes

  1. Job 19:20 Or only by my gums
  2. Job 19:24 Or and
  3. Job 19:25 Or vindicator
  4. Job 19:25 Or on my grave
  5. Job 19:26 Or And after I awake, / though this body has been destroyed, / then
  6. Job 19:26 Or destroyed, / apart from
  7. Job 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts me
  8. Job 19:29 Or sword, / that you may come to know the Almighty

約伯的回答

19 約伯回答說:

「你們要折磨我多久?
用言語壓碎我到何時?
你們侮辱我已有十次之多,
苦待我也不以為恥。
即使我真有過錯,
也由我獨自承擔。
你們若真要妄自尊大,
利用我的恥辱來指責我,
也該知道是上帝冤枉了我,
用網羅套住我。
我喊冤,卻無人回應;
我呼救,卻不見公道。
上帝築起牆壘,阻斷我的路,
祂使黑暗籠罩我的路途。
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。」

Footnotes

  1. 19·20 我離死亡僅一線之隔」希伯來文是「我只剩牙皮逃脫」。
  2. 19·26 活著」或譯「在肉體之外」。