13 He has removed my brothers from me;
my acquaintances have abandoned me.(A)
14 My relatives stop coming by,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 My house guests[a] and female servants regard me as a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their sight.(B)
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer,
even if I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
and my own family[b] finds me repulsive.
18 Even young boys scorn me.
When I stand up, they mock me.(C)
19 All of my best friends[c] despise me,(D)
and those I love have turned against me.(E)
20 My skin and my flesh cling to my bones;
I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.

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Footnotes

  1. 19:15 Or The resident aliens in my household
  2. 19:17 Lit and the sons of my belly
  3. 19:19 Lit of the men of my council

13 “He has put my family far from me,
    and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives and my close friends have failed me;
15     the guests in my house have forgotten me;
my female servants count me as a stranger;
    I have become an alien in their eyes.(A)
16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
    I must myself plead with him.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife;
    I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me;
    when I rise, they talk against me.(B)
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,
    and those whom I love have turned against me.(C)
20 My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh,
    and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.(D)

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