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19 Then Job answered,

“How long will you torment me,
    and crush me with words?
You have reproached me ten times.
    You aren’t ashamed that you attack me.
If it is true that I have erred,
    my error remains with myself.
If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me,
    and plead against me my reproach,
know now that God has subverted me,
    and has surrounded me with his net.

“Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard.
    I cry for help, but there is no justice.
He has walled up my way so that I can’t pass,
    and has set darkness in my paths.
He has stripped me of my glory,
    and taken the crown from my head.
10 He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone.
    He has plucked my hope up like a tree.
11 He has also kindled his wrath against me.
    He counts me among his adversaries.
12 His troops come on together,
    build a siege ramp against me,
    and encamp around my tent.

13 “He has put my brothers far from me.
    My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away.
    My familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who dwell in my house and my maids consider me a stranger.
    I am an alien in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, and he gives me no answer.
    I beg him with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife.
    I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.
18 Even young children despise me.
    If I arise, they speak against me.
19 All my familiar friends abhor me.
    They whom I loved have turned against me.
20 My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh.
    I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

21 “Have pity on me. Have pity on me, you my friends;
    for the hand of God has touched me.
22 Why do you persecute me as God,
    and are not satisfied with my flesh?

23 “Oh that my words were now written!
    Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24 That with an iron pen and lead
    they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives.
    In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
26 After my skin is destroyed,
    then I will see God in my flesh,
27 whom I, even I, will see on my side.
    My eyes will see, and not as a stranger.

“My heart is consumed within me.
28 If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’
    because the root of the matter is found in me,
29 be afraid of the sword,
    for wrath brings the punishments of the sword,
    that you may know there is a judgment.”

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)

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