Job 19
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 19
Job’s Fifth Reply. 1 [a]Then Job answered and said:
2 How long will you afflict my spirit,
grind me down with words?
3 These ten times you have humiliated me,
have assailed me without shame!
4 Even if it were true that I am at fault,
my fault would remain with me;
5 If truly you exalt yourselves at my expense,
and use my shame as an argument against me,
6 Know then that it is God who has dealt unfairly with me,
and compassed me round with his net.
7 If I cry out “Violence!” I am not answered.(A)
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has barred my way and I cannot pass;
veiled my path in darkness;
9 He has stripped me of my glory,
taken the diadem from my brow.
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
he has uprooted my hope like a tree.
11 He has kindled his wrath against me;
he counts me one of his enemies.(B)
12 His troops advance as one;
they build up their road to attack me,
encamp around my tent.
13 My family has withdrawn from me,(C)
my friends are wholly estranged.
14 My relatives and companions neglect me,
my guests have forgotten me.
15 Even my maidservants consider me a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call my servant, but he gives no answer,
though I plead aloud with him.
17 My breath is abhorrent to my wife;(D)
I am loathsome to my very children.
18 Even young children despise me;
when I appear, they speak against me.
19 All my intimate friends hold me in horror;
those whom I loved have turned against me!(E)
20 My bones cling to my skin,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.[b]
21 Pity me, pity me, you my friends,
for the hand of God has struck me!
22 Why do you pursue me like God,
and prey insatiably upon me?
23 Oh, would that my words were written down!(F)
Would that they were inscribed in a record:[c]
24 That with an iron chisel and with lead
they were cut in the rock forever!
25 As for me, I know that my vindicator lives,[d]
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust.(G)
26 This will happen when my skin has been stripped off,
and from my flesh I will see God:
27 I will see for myself,
my own eyes, not another’s, will behold him:
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
28 But you who say, “How shall we persecute him,
seeing that the root of the matter is found in him?”
29 Be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
for your anger is a crime deserving the sword;
that you may know that there is a judgment.
Footnotes
- 19:1 Job continues railing against his friends (vv. 2–5), and describing God’s savage attack in words reminiscent of 16:9–17.
- 19:20 Skin of my teeth: although the metaphor is not clear, this has become a proverbial expression for a narrow escape. It does not fit Job’s situation here.
- 19:23–24 What Job is about to say is so important that he wants it recorded in a permanent manner.
- 19:25–27 The meaning of this passage is obscure because the original text has been poorly preserved and the ancient versions do not agree among themselves. Job asserts three times that he shall see a future vindicator (Hebrew goel), but he leaves the time and manner of this vindication undefined. The Vulgate translation has Job indicating a belief in resurrection after death, but the Hebrew and the other ancient versions are less specific.
Job 19
Nueva Biblia Viva
Sexto discurso de Job
19 Respuesta de Job:
2 «¿Hasta cuándo me atormentarán y tratarán de quebrantarme con sus palabras? 3 Ya por diez veces me han declarado pecador. ¿Cómo no les da vergüenza darme un trato tan duro? 4 Y si de veras estuviera yo equivocado, tendrían que demostrarlo. 5 ¿Tan grandes se creen? Pues demuestren mi culpa. 6 La verdad es que Dios me ha derribado y me ha atrapado en su red.
7 »Grito pidiendo ayuda y nadie me escucha. Doy voces, pero no se me hace justicia. 8 Dios me ha cerrado el paso y ha convertido en tinieblas mi luz. 9 Me ha despojado de mi gloria y ha quitado la corona de mi cabeza. 10 Me ha quebrantado por todas partes y estoy acabado. Me ha destruido toda esperanza, 11 Su furia me quema; me tiene por enemigo. 12 Envía sus ejércitos a sitiar mi tienda.
13 »Ha alejado a mis hermanos y amigos. 14 Mis parientes me han fallado; todos mis amigos me han abandonado. 15 Quienes viven en mi casa, aun mis siervos, me miran como a un extraño. Soy para ellos como un forastero. 16 Llamo a mi siervo, y no acude; ¡hasta le suplico! 17 Mi propia esposa y mis hermanos sienten asco de mí. 18 Hasta los niñitos me desprecian: cuando me levanto para hablar, se burlan de mí. 19 Mis mejores amigos me aborrecen. Los que yo amaba se han vuelto contra mí, 20 Soy huesos y pellejo, y tan sólo por un pelo he escapado a la muerte.
21 »¡Ay, amigos míos, compadézcanme porque la airada mano de Dios me ha tocado! 22 ¿Por qué han de perseguirme como me persigue Dios? ¿Por qué no les basta mi angustia?
23-24 »¡Ay, que con pluma de hierro se pudiera dejar grabado mi alegato en una roca para siempre! 25 Yo sé que mi redentor vive, que al fin estará de pie sobre la tierra. 26 ¡Y sé que después que este cuerpo se haya descompuesto, con este cuerpo veré a Dios! 27 Entonces él estará de parte mía y lo veré, no como un extraño sino como un amigo. ¡Qué gloriosa esperanza!
28 »¿Cómo se atreven ustedes a seguir acosándome, como si mi culpabilidad estuviera probada? 29 Les advierto que ustedes mismos se arriesgan a ser castigados por actuar así».
Job 19
King James Version
19 Then Job answered and said,
2 How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
4 And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:
6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.
12 His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.
13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.
16 I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
17 My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body.
18 Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
19 All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
28 But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
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