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19 Then Iyov answered:

“How long will you go on making me angry,
crushing me with words?
You’ve insulted me ten times already;
aren’t you ashamed to treat me so badly?
Even if it’s true that I made a mistake,
my error stays with me.

“You may take a superior attitude toward me
and cite my disgrace as proof against me;
but know that it’s God who has put me in the wrong
and closed his net around me.
If I cry, ‘Violence!’ no one hears me;
I cry aloud, but there is no justice.

“He has fenced off my way, so that I can’t pass;
he has covered my paths with darkness.
He has stripped me of my glory
and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears every part of me down — I am gone;
he uproots my hope like a tree.
11 “Inflamed with anger against me,
he counts me as one of his foes.
12 His troops advance together,
they make their way against me
and encamp around my tent.

13 “He has made my brothers keep their distance,
those who know me are wholly estranged from me,
14 my kinsfolk have failed me,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 Those living in my house consider me a stranger;
my slave-girls too — in their view I’m a foreigner.
16 I call my servant, and he doesn’t answer,
even if I beg him for a favor!

17 “My wife can’t stand my breath,
I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me —
if I stand up, they start jeering at me.
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,
and those I loved have turned against me.
20 My bones stick to my skin and flesh;
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

21 “Pity me, friends of mine, pity me!
For the hand of God has struck me!
22 Must you pursue me as God does,
never satisfied with my flesh?
23 I wish my words were written down,
that they were inscribed in a scroll,
24 that, engraved with iron and filled with lead,
they were cut into rock forever!

25 “But I know that my Redeemer lives,
that in the end he will rise on the dust;
26 so that after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then even without my flesh, I will see God.
27 I will see him for myself,
my eyes, not someone else’s, will behold him.
My heart grows weak inside me!

28 “If you say, ‘How will we persecute him?’ —
the root of the matter is found in me.
29 You had best fear the sword,
for anger brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you will know there is judgment!”
20 Tzofar the Na‘amati replied,

“My thoughts are pressing me to answer;
I feel such an urge to speak!
I have heard reproof that outrages me,
but a spirit past my understanding gives me a reply.

“Don’t you know that ever since time began,
ever since humans were placed on earth,
that the triumph of the wicked is always short-lived,
and the joy of the ungodly is gone in a moment?
His pride may mount to the heavens,
his head may touch the clouds;
but he will vanish completely, like his own dung —
those who used to see him will ask, ‘Where is he?’
Like a dream he flies off and is not found again;
like a vision in the night he is chased away.
The eye which once saw him will see him no more,
his place will not behold him again.
10 His children will have to pay back the poor;
his hands will restore their wealth.
11 His bones may be filled with [the vigor of] his youth,
but it will join him lying in the dust.

12 “Wickedness may taste sweet in his mouth,
he may savor and roll it around on his tongue,
13 he may linger over it and not let it go
but keep it there in his mouth —
14 yet in his stomach his food goes bad,
it works inside him like snake venom;
15 the wealth he swallows he vomits back up;
God makes him disgorge it.
16 He sucks the poison of asps,
the viper’s fangs will kill him.
17 He will not enjoy the rivers,
the streams flowing with honey and cream.
18 He will have to give back what he toiled for;
he won’t get to swallow it down —
to the degree that he acquired wealth,
he won’t get to enjoy it.

19 “For he crushed and abandoned the poor,
seizing houses he did not build,
20 because his appetite would not let him rest,
in his greed he let nothing escape;
21 nothing is left that he did not devour;
therefore his well-being will not last.
22 With all needs satisfied, he will be in distress;
the full force of misery will come over him.

23 “This is what will fill his belly! —
[God] will lay on him all his burning anger
and make it rain over him, into his insides.
24 If he flees from the weapon of iron,
the bow of bronze will pierce him through —
25 he pulls the arrow out of his back,
the shining tip comes out from his innards;
terrors come upon him.

26 “Total darkness is laid up for his treasures,
a fire fanned by no one will consume him,
and calamity awaits what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will reveal his guilt,
and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The income of his household will be carried off;
his goods will flow away on the day of his wrath.
29 This is God’s reward for the wicked,
the heritage God decrees for him.”

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)

Zophar

20 Then Zophar the Naamathite(BB) replied:

“My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
    because I am greatly disturbed.(BC)
I hear a rebuke(BD) that dishonors me,
    and my understanding inspires me to reply.

“Surely you know how it has been from of old,(BE)
    ever since mankind[i] was placed on the earth,
that the mirth of the wicked(BF) is brief,
    the joy of the godless(BG) lasts but a moment.(BH)
Though the pride(BI) of the godless person reaches to the heavens(BJ)
    and his head touches the clouds,(BK)
he will perish forever,(BL) like his own dung;
    those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’(BM)
Like a dream(BN) he flies away,(BO) no more to be found,
    banished(BP) like a vision of the night.(BQ)
The eye that saw him will not see him again;
    his place will look on him no more.(BR)
10 His children(BS) must make amends to the poor;
    his own hands must give back his wealth.(BT)
11 The youthful vigor(BU) that fills his bones(BV)
    will lie with him in the dust.(BW)

12 “Though evil(BX) is sweet in his mouth
    and he hides it under his tongue,(BY)
13 though he cannot bear to let it go
    and lets it linger in his mouth,(BZ)
14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;(CA)
    it will become the venom of serpents(CB) within him.
15 He will spit out the riches(CC) he swallowed;
    God will make his stomach vomit(CD) them up.
16 He will suck the poison(CE) of serpents;
    the fangs of an adder will kill him.(CF)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
    the rivers(CG) flowing with honey(CH) and cream.(CI)
18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;(CJ)
    he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.(CK)
19 For he has oppressed the poor(CL) and left them destitute;(CM)
    he has seized houses(CN) he did not build.

20 “Surely he will have no respite from his craving;(CO)
    he cannot save himself by his treasure.(CP)
21 Nothing is left for him to devour;
    his prosperity will not endure.(CQ)
22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;(CR)
    the full force of misery will come upon him.(CS)
23 When he has filled his belly,(CT)
    God will vent his burning anger(CU) against him
    and rain down his blows on him.(CV)
24 Though he flees(CW) from an iron weapon,
    a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.(CX)
25 He pulls it out of his back,
    the gleaming point out of his liver.
Terrors(CY) will come over him;(CZ)
26     total darkness(DA) lies in wait for his treasures.
A fire(DB) unfanned will consume him(DC)
    and devour what is left in his tent.(DD)
27 The heavens will expose his guilt;
    the earth will rise up against him.(DE)
28 A flood will carry off his house,(DF)
    rushing waters[j] on the day of God’s wrath.(DG)
29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
    the heritage appointed for them by God.”(DH)

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
  9. Job 20:4 Or Adam
  10. Job 20:28 Or The possessions in his house will be carried off, / washed away