Job 19
International Children’s Bible
Job Answers Bildad
19 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you hurt me
and crush me with your words?
3 You have insulted me ten times now.
You attack me without shame.
4 If I have sinned,
it is my worry alone.
5 Maybe you want to make yourselves look better than I do
so you can blame me for my suffering.
6 Then know that God has wronged me.
He has pulled his net around me.
7 “I shout, ‘I have been wronged!’
But I get no answer.
I call loudly for help,
but I receive no justice.
8 God has blocked my way so I cannot pass.
He has covered my paths with darkness.
9 He has taken away my honor.
He has removed the crown from my head.
10 He beats me down on every side until I am gone.
He pulls up my hope as a tree is pulled up by its roots.
11 His anger burns against me.
And he treats me as one of his enemies.
12 His armies gather.
They prepare a way to attack me.
They camp around my tent.
13 “God has made my brothers my enemies.
My friends have become complete strangers.
14 My relatives have gone away.
My friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my women servants think of me as a stranger.
They look at me as if I were a foreigner.
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer.
I even beg him with my own mouth.
17 My wife hates my breath.
My own family hates me.
18 Even the little boys hate me.
When I leave, they talk about me.
19 All my close friends hate me.
Even those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones.
I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, my friends. Pity me!
The hand of God has hit me.
22 Why do you chase me as God does?
Haven’t you had enough of hurting my body?
23 “How I wish my words were written down.
I wish they were written on a scroll.
24 I wish they were carved with an iron pen into lead,
or carved into stone forever!
25 I know that my Defender lives.
And in the end he will come to show that I am right.
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,
in my flesh I will still see God.
27 I will see him myself.
I myself will see him with my own eyes.
How my heart wants that to happen!
28 “You may say, ‘We will continue to trouble Job.
The problem lies with him.’
29 But you should be afraid of the sword yourselves.
God’s anger will bring punishment by the sword.
Then you will know that 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 Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
