Job 18:4-19:25

English Standard Version

⁵ “Indeed, ^(C)the light of the wicked is put out,
    and the flame of his fire does not shine.
⁶ The light is ^(D)dark in his tent,
    and his lamp above him is put out.
⁷ His strong steps are shortened,
    and his ^(E)own schemes throw him down.
⁸ For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
    and he walks on its mesh.
^9 (F)A trap seizes him by the heel;
    a snare lays hold of him.
¹⁰ A rope is hidden for him in the ground,
    a trap for him in the path.
^11 (G)Terrors frighten him on every side,
    and chase him at his heels.
¹² His strength is famished,
    and calamity is ^(H)ready for his stumbling.
¹³ It consumes the parts of his skin;
    ^(I)the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
¹⁴ He is torn from the tent in which he trusted
    and is brought to ^(J)the king of terrors.
¹⁵ In his tent dwells that which is none of his;
    ^(K)sulfur is scattered over his habitation.
¹⁶ His ^(L)roots dry up beneath,
    and his branches ^(M)wither above.
¹⁷ His ^(N)memory perishes from the earth,
    and he has no name in the street.
^18 (O)He is thrust from light into darkness,
    and driven out of the world.
¹⁹ He has no ^(P)posterity or progeny among his people,
    and no survivor where he used to live.
²⁰ They of the west are appalled at his ^(Q)day,
    and ^(R)horror seizes them of the east.
²¹ Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
    such is the place of him who ^(S)knows not God.”

² “How long will you torment me
    and break me in pieces with words?
³ These ^(T)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 ^(U)magnify yourselves against me
    and make my disgrace an argument against me,
⁶ know then that God has ^(V)put me in the wrong
    and closed his net about me.
⁷ Behold, I ^(W)cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;
    I call for help, but there is no justice.
⁸ He has ^(X)walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,
    and he has set darkness upon my paths.
⁹ He has ^(Y)stripped from me my glory
    and taken the ^(Z)crown from my head.
¹⁰ He breaks me down on every side, and I ^(AA)am gone,
    and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.
¹¹ He has kindled his wrath against me
    and ^(AB)counts me as his adversary.
¹² His ^(AC)troops come on together;
    they have ^(AD)cast up their siege ramp^[a] against me
    and encamp around my tent.

¹³ “He has put my ^(AE)brothers far from me,
    and ^(AF)those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.
¹⁴ My relatives ^(AG)have failed me,
    my close ^(AH)friends have forgotten me.
¹⁵ The guests ^(AI)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 ^(AJ)wife,
    and I am a stench to the children of ^(AK)my own mother.
¹⁸ Even young ^(AL)children despise me;
    when I rise they talk against me.
¹⁹ All my ^(AM)intimate friends abhor me,
    and those whom I loved have turned against me.
²⁰ My ^(AN)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 ^(AO)touched me!
²² Why do you, like God, ^(AP)pursue me?
    Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

²³ “Oh that my words were written!
    Oh that they were ^(AQ)inscribed in a book!
²⁴ Oh that with an iron ^(AR)pen and lead
    they were engraved in the rock forever!
²⁵ For I ^(AS)know that my ^(AT)Redeemer lives,
    and at the last he will stand upon the ^(AU)earth.^[b]