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Job’s Sixth Speech: A Response to Bildad

19 Then Job spoke again:

“How long will you torture me?
    How long will you try to crush me with your words?
You have already insulted me ten times.
    You should be ashamed of treating me so badly.
Even if I have sinned,
    that is my concern, not yours.
You think you’re better than I am,
    using my humiliation as evidence of my sin.
But it is God who has wronged me,
    capturing me in his net.[a]

“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![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.”

Footnotes

  1. 19:6 Or for I am like a city under siege.
  2. 19:26 Or without my body I will see God. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

Failed friendship

19 Then Job responded:

How long will you harass me
    and crush me with words?
These ten times you’ve humiliated me;
    shamelessly you insult me.
Have I really gone astray?
    If so, my error remains hidden inside me.
If you look down on me
        and use my disgrace to criticize me,
    know then that God has wronged me
        and enclosed his net over me.

God’s treatment of Job

If I cry “Violence!” I’m not answered;
    I shout—but there is no justice.
He walled up my path so I can’t pass
        and put darkness on my trail,
    stripped my honor from me,
        removed the crown from my head,
10     tore me down completely so that I’ll die, and uprooted my hope like a tree.
11 His anger burns against me;
    he considers me his enemy.
12 His troops come as one
    and construct their siege ramp[a] against me;
    they camp around my tent.

Social ostracism

13 He has distanced my family from me;
    my acquaintances are also alienated from me.
14 My visitors have ceased;
    those who know me have forgotten me.
15 My guests and female servants think me a stranger;
    I’m a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call my servant, and he doesn’t answer;
    I myself must beg him.
17 My breath stinks to my wife;
    I am odious to my children.
18 Even the young despise me;
    I get up, and they rail against me.
19 All my closest friends despise me;
    the ones I have loved turn against me.

Misery

20 My bones cling to my skin and flesh;
    I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me. Pity me. You’re my friends.
    God’s hand has truly struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me like God does,
    always hungry for my flesh?

Brief hope

23 Oh, that my words were written down,
        inscribed on a scroll
24     with an iron instrument and lead,
        forever engraved on stone.
25 But I know that my redeemer[b] is alive
        and afterward he’ll rise upon the dust.
26 After my skin has been torn apart this way—
    then from my flesh[c] I’ll see God,
27         whom I’ll see myself—
        my eyes see,[d] and not a stranger’s.
    I am utterly dejected.

Warning

28 You say, “How will we pursue him
    so that the root of the matter can be found in him?”[e]
29 You ought to fear the sword yourselves,
    for wrath brings punishment by the sword.
    You should know that there is judgment.

Footnotes

  1. Job 19:12 Or their road
  2. Job 19:25 Or avenger
  3. Job 19:26 Or without my flesh or in my flesh
  4. Job 19:27 Or have seen
  5. Job 19:28 Heb manuscripts; MT in me

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