Job 19
English Standard Version
Job Replies: My Redeemer Lives
19 Then Job answered and said:
2 “How long will you torment me
and break me in pieces with words?
3 These (A)ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
are you not ashamed to wrong me?
4 And even if it be true that I have erred,
my error remains with myself.
5 If indeed you (B)magnify yourselves against me
and make my disgrace an argument against me,
6 know then that God has (C)put me in the wrong
and closed his net about me.
7 Behold, I (D)cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;
I call for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has (E)walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
9 He has (F)stripped from me my glory
and taken the (G)crown from my head.
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I (H)am gone,
and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.
11 He has kindled his wrath against me
and (I)counts me as his adversary.
12 His (J)troops come on together;
they have (K)cast up their siege ramp[a] against me
and encamp around my tent.
13 “He has put my (L)brothers far from me,
and (M)those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives (N)have failed me,
my close (O)friends have forgotten me.
15 The guests (P)in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;
I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.
17 My breath is strange to my (Q)wife,
and I am a stench to the children of (R)my own mother.
18 Even young (S)children despise me;
when I rise they talk against me.
19 All my (T)intimate friends abhor me,
and those whom I loved have turned against me.
20 My (U)bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has (V)touched me!
22 Why do you, like God, (W)pursue me?
Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were (X)inscribed in a book!
24 Oh that with an iron (Y)pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 For I (Z)know that my (AA)Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the (AB)earth.[b]
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in[c] my flesh I shall (AC)see God,
27 whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not (AD)another.
My heart (AE)faints within me!
28 If you say, ‘How we will (AF)pursue him!’
and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’[d]
29 be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
that you may know there is (AG)a judgment.”
Job 19
New Living Translation
Job’s Sixth Speech: A Response to Bildad
19 Then Job spoke again:
2 “How long will you torture me?
How long will you try to crush me with your words?
3 You have already insulted me ten times.
You should be ashamed of treating me so badly.
4 Even if I have sinned,
that is my concern, not yours.
5 You think you’re better than I am,
using my humiliation as evidence of my sin.
6 But it is God who has wronged me,
capturing me in his net.[a]
7 “I cry out, ‘Help!’ but no one answers me.
I protest, but there is no justice.
8 God has blocked my way so I cannot move.
He has plunged my path into darkness.
9 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![b]
27 I will see him for myself.
Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!
28 “How dare you go on persecuting me,
saying, ‘It’s his own fault’?
29 You should fear punishment yourselves,
for your attitude deserves punishment.
Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
