Job 19
Expanded Bible
Job Answers Bildad
19 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you ·hurt [torment] me
and crush me with your words?
3 You have ·insulted [disgraced; shamed] me ten times ·now [over]
and ·attacked me without shame [or are you not shamed to wrong me?].
4 Even if I have ·sinned [erred; made a mistake],
·it is my worry alone [L my sin/mistake lodges within me].
5 If you want to make yourselves ·look better than I [or powerful against me],
you can ·blame me for my suffering [make my shame/disgrace an argument against me].
6 Then know that God has ·wronged [or a distorted view of; unjustly blamed] me
and ·pulled [thrown] his net around me [C like a hunter].
7 “I shout, ‘·I have been wronged [L Violence]!’
But I get no answer.
I scream for help
but I get no justice.
8 God has ·blocked [walled up] my way so I cannot pass;
he has covered my paths with darkness [Prov. 4:19].
9 He has ·taken away [stripped off] my ·honor [glory]
and removed the crown from my head.
10 He beats me down on every side until I am gone;
he ·destroys [uproots] my hope like a fallen tree.
11 ·His anger burns [L He kindles his anger] against me,
and he ·treats [or considers] me like an ·enemy [foe].
12 His ·armies [troops] gather;
they ·prepare to attack [L build up a road against; C a siege ramp] me.
They camp around my tent.
13 “God has ·made my brothers my enemies [L moved my brothers far from me],
and my friends have become strangers.
14 ·My relatives [L Those near me] have ·gone away [or failed me],
and my ·friends [acquaintances] have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my ·female servants [T maidservants] ·treat [or consider] me like a stranger;
they look at me as if I were a foreigner.
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer,
even when I ·beg him with my own mouth [ask him for a personal favor].
17 My wife ·can’t stand [abhors] my breath,
and my own family ·dislikes me [finds me repulsive].
18 Even the little boys ·hate [L reject] me
and talk ·about [or against] me when I leave.
19 All my close friends ·hate [L detest] me;
even those I love have turned against me.
20 ·I am nothing but skin and bones [L My bones cling to my skin and my flesh];
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, my friends, pity me,
because the hand of God has ·hit [touched; struck] me.
22 Why do you ·chase [pursue; persecute] me as God does?
·Haven’t you hurt me enough [L Aren’t you satisfied with my flesh]?
23 “How I wish my words were written down,
·written [L inscribed] on a scroll.
24 I wish they were carved with an iron pen ·into [L and] lead,
or carved into stone ·forever [or as a witness; C Job wants the following statement to last].
25 I know that my ·Defender [Redeemer; or defender; redeemer; C likely referring to God himself] lives,
and ·in the end [or at last] he will ·stand upon [rise up on] the earth [L dust].
26 Even after my skin has been ·destroyed [or peeled off],
·in [from; or without] my flesh I will see God.
27 I will see him myself;
I ·myself [L and not a stranger] will see him with my very own eyes.
How my heart ·wants that to happen [L fades/faints within me]!
28 “·If [or When] you say, ‘·We will continue to trouble Job [L How should we pursue/persecute him?],
because the ·problem [L root of the matter] lies with him,’
29 you should be afraid of the sword yourselves.
·God’s anger [L Wrath] will bring punishment by the sword.
Then you will know there is judgment.”
Job 19
English Standard Version
Job Replies: My Redeemer Lives
19 Then Job answered and said:
2 “How long will you torment me
and break me in pieces with words?
3 These (A)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 (B)magnify yourselves against me
and make my disgrace an argument against me,
6 know then that God has (C)put me in the wrong
and closed his net about me.
7 Behold, I (D)cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;
I call for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has (E)walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
9 He has (F)stripped from me my glory
and taken the (G)crown from my head.
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I (H)am gone,
and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.
11 He has kindled his wrath against me
and (I)counts me as his adversary.
12 His (J)troops come on together;
they have (K)cast up their siege ramp[a] against me
and encamp around my tent.
13 “He has put my (L)brothers far from me,
and (M)those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives (N)have failed me,
my close (O)friends have forgotten me.
15 The guests (P)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 (Q)wife,
and I am a stench to the children of (R)my own mother.
18 Even young (S)children despise me;
when I rise they talk against me.
19 All my (T)intimate friends abhor me,
and those whom I loved have turned against me.
20 My (U)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 (V)touched me!
22 Why do you, like God, (W)pursue me?
Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were (X)inscribed in a book!
24 Oh that with an iron (Y)pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 For I (Z)know that my (AA)Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the (AB)earth.[b]
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in[c] my flesh I shall (AC)see God,
27 whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not (AD)another.
My heart (AE)faints within me!
28 If you say, ‘How we will (AF)pursue him!’
and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’[d]
29 be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
that you may know there is (AG)a judgment.”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
