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“I cry out, ‘Help!’ but no one answers me.
    I protest, but there is no justice.
God has blocked my way so I cannot move.
    He has plunged my path into darkness.
He has stripped me of my honor
    and removed the crown from my head.
10 He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished.
    He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree.
11 His fury burns against me;
    he counts me as an enemy.
12 His troops advance.
    They build up roads to attack me.
    They camp all around my tent.

13 “My relatives stay far away,
    and my friends have turned against me.
14 My family is gone,
    and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 My servants and maids consider me a stranger.
    I am like a foreigner to them.
16 When I call my servant, he doesn’t come;
    I have to plead with him!
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife.
    I am rejected by my own family.
18 Even young children despise me.
    When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me.
19 My close friends detest me.
    Those I loved have turned against me.
20 I have been reduced to skin and bones
    and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.

21 “Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy,
    for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Must you also persecute me, like God does?
    Haven’t you chewed me up enough?

23 “Oh, that my words could be recorded.
    Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument,
24 carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead,
    engraved forever in the rock.

25 “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
    and he will stand upon the earth at last.
26 And after my body has decayed,
    yet in my body I will see God![a]
27 I will see him for myself.
    Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
    I am overwhelmed at the thought!

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Footnotes

  1. 19:26 Or without my body I will see God. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

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

13 “He has alienated my family(Q) from me;
    my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.(R)
14 My relatives have gone away;
    my closest friends(S) have forgotten me.
15 My guests(T) and my female servants(U) 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(V) to my own family.
18 Even the little boys(W) scorn me;
    when I appear, they ridicule me.(X)
19 All my intimate friends(Y) detest me;(Z)
    those I love have turned against me.(AA)
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;(AB)
    I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.[a]

21 “Have pity on me, my friends,(AC) have pity,
    for the hand of God has struck(AD) me.
22 Why do you pursue(AE) me as God does?(AF)
    Will you never get enough of my flesh?(AG)

23 “Oh, that my words were recorded,
    that they were written on a scroll,(AH)
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool(AI) on[b] lead,
    or engraved in rock forever!(AJ)
25 I know that my redeemer[c](AK) lives,(AL)
    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;(AM)
27 I myself will see him
    with my own eyes(AN)—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns(AO) within me!

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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