Add parallel Print Page Options

My Redeemer Lives

19 Then Job answered and said,

“How long will you torment my soul
And crush me with words?
These ten times you have dishonored me;
You are not ashamed that you wrong me.
[a]Even if I have truly erred,
My error lodges with me.
If truly you (A)magnify yourselves against me
And argue my disgrace to me,
Know then that (B)God has wronged me
And has closed (C)His net around me.

“Behold, (D)I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
He has (E)walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put (F)darkness on my paths.
He has (G)stripped my honor from me
And removed the (H)crown from my head.
10 He (I)breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
And He has uprooted my (J)hope (K)like a tree.
11 He has also (L)kindled His anger against me
And (M)counted me as His adversary.
12 His (N)troops come together,
And (O)build up their [b]way against me
And camp around my tent.

13 “He has (P)removed my brothers far from me,
And my (Q)acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives have failed,
And my (R)familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who sojourn in my house and my maidservants count me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore him with my mouth.
17 My breath is [c]offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 Even young children reject me;
I rise up, and they speak against me.
19 All the men of my (S)counsel abhor me,
And those I love have turned against me.
20 My (T)bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,
For the (U)hand of God has smitten me.
22 Why do you (V)persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?

23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were (W)inscribed in a book!
24 That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 As for me, I know that (X)my [d]Redeemer lives,
And [e]at the last He will rise up over the dust of this world.
26 Even after my skin [f]is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall (Y)behold God,
27 Whom I [g]myself shall behold,
And whom my eyes will see and not another.
My [h]heart (Z)faints [i]within me!
28 If you say, ‘How shall we (AA)persecute him?’
‘And the root of the matter is found in [j]him?’
29 Then be afraid of (AB)the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know (AC)there is judgment.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 19:4 Or Indeed, I have truly erred
  2. Job 19:12 Siegework
  3. Job 19:17 Lit strange
  4. Job 19:25 Or Vindicator, Defender; lit kinsman
  5. Job 19:25 Lit after, cf. Job 19:26
  6. Job 19:26 Lit which they have cut off
  7. Job 19:27 Or on my side
  8. Job 19:27 Lit kidneys
  9. Job 19:27 Lit in my loins
  10. Job 19:28 Lit me

Job’s Sixth Speech: A Response to Bildad

19 Then[a] Job answered and said,

How long[b] will you[c] torment me[d]
and crush me with words?
These ten times you[e] have disgraced me;
you[f] are not ashamed that you[g] have attacked[h] me.
And what is more, if I have truly erred,
my error remains with me.
If indeed you[i] must magnify yourselves against me,
and you[j] must let my disgrace argue against me,
know then that God has wronged me
and has surrounded me with his net.
“Look, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but[k] I am not answered;
I cry out, but[l] there is no justice.
He has walled up my way so that[m] I cannot pass;
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
He has taken my glory from me,
and he has removed the crown of[n] my head.
10 He has broken me down all around, and I am gone.
And he has uprooted my hope like a tree,
11 and he has kindled his wrath against me,
and he has counted me as one of his foes.[o]
12 His troops have come together
and have thrown up their rampart[p] against me
and have encamped around my tent.
13 “He has removed my kinsfolk from me,
and my acquaintances have only[q] turned aside from me.
14 My relatives have failed,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 The sojourners in[r] my house and my slave women count me as a stranger;
I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
16 I call to my servant, but[s] he does not answer;
I must personally[t] plead with him.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife,
and I am loathsome to my own family.[u]
18 Little boys also despise me;
when I rise, then[v] they talk against me.
19 All my intimate friends[w] abhor me,
and these whom I have loved have turned against me.
20 My bones[x] cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Pity me, pity me, you my friends,
for God’s hand has touched me.
22 Why do you[y] pursue me like God?
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 O that[z] my words could be written down!
O that they could be inscribed in a scroll![aa]
24 That with a pen of iron and with lead
they might be engraved on a rock forever!
25 But[ab] I myself[ac] know that my redeemer is alive,
and at the last he will stand up upon the earth.[ad]
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
but[ae] from[af] my flesh I will see God,
27 whom I will see for myself,[ag]
and whom my eyes will see and not a stranger.[ah]
My heart faints within me.[ai]
28 “If you[aj] say, ‘How will we persecute him?’
And ‘The root of the trouble is found’ in me,[ak]
29 be afraid for yourselves because of the sword,[al]
for wrath brings punishment by[am] the sword,
so that you may know that there is judgment.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 19:1 Hebrew “And”
  2. Job 19:2 Literally “Until when”
  3. Job 19:2 Plural
  4. Job 19:2 Hebrew “my soul,” or “my self”
  5. Job 19:3 Plural
  6. Job 19:3 Plural
  7. Job 19:3 Plural
  8. Job 19:3 Or “astonished”
  9. Job 19:5 Plural
  10. Job 19:5 Plural
  11. Job 19:7 Or “and”
  12. Job 19:7 Hebrew “and”
  13. Job 19:8 Hebrew “and”
  14. Job 19:9 Or “from”
  15. Job 19:11 Literally “he has counted me for him as his foes”
  16. Job 19:12 Or “siege works”; compare NRSV
  17. Job 19:13 Or “completely”
  18. Job 19:15 Or “of”
  19. Job 19:16 Hebrew “and”
  20. Job 19:16 Literally “with my mouth”
  21. Job 19:17 Literally “to the children of my womb”
  22. Job 19:18 Hebrew “and”
  23. Job 19:19 Literally “the men of the circle of my confidants”
  24. Job 19:20 Collective singular
  25. Job 19:22 Plural
  26. Job 19:23 Literally “Who then shall give and”
  27. Job 19:23 Literally “Who shall give in the scroll and they could be inscribed”
  28. Job 19:25 Hebrew “And”
  29. Job 19:25 Emphatic personal pronoun
  30. Job 19:25 Literally “dust”
  31. Job 19:26 Hebrew “and”
  32. Job 19:26 Or “without”
  33. Job 19:27 Literally “I myself will see for myself”; emphatic personal pronoun as subject to the singular verb
  34. Job 19:27 Or “another”
  35. Job 19:27 Literally “My kidneys fail in my lap”; see NRSV
  36. Job 19:28 Plural
  37. Job 19:28 Or “‘The root of the trouble is found’ in him”
  38. Job 19:29 Literally “from the faces of the sword”
  39. Job 19:29 Literally “of”