Job 19
New American Standard Bible
Job Feels Insulted
19 Then Job responded,
2 “How long will you torment [a]me
And crush me with words?
3 These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.
4 Even if I have truly done wrong,
My error stays with me.
5 If indeed you (A)exalt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,
6 Know then that (B)God has wronged me
And has surrounded me with (C)His net.
Everything Is Against Him
7 “Behold, (D)I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has (E)blocked my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put (F)darkness on my paths.
9 He has (G)stripped my honor from me
And removed the (H)crown from my head.
10 He (I)breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
And He has uprooted my (J)hope (K)like a tree.
11 He has also (L)kindled His anger against me
And (M)considered me as His enemy.
12 His (N)troops come together
And (O)build up their [b]way against me
And camp around my tent.
13 “He has (P)removed my brothers far from me,
And my (Q)acquaintances have completely turned away from me.
14 My relatives have failed,
And my (R)close friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who live in my house and my servant women consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore his favor with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 Even young children despise me;
I stand up and they speak against me.
19 All [c]my (S)associates loathe me,
And those I love have turned against me.
20 My (T)bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, you friends of mine,
For the (U)hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you (V)persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Job Says My Redeemer Lives
23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were (W)recorded in a book!
24 That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 Yet as for me, I know that (X)my Redeemer lives,
And at the last, He will take His stand on the [d]earth.
26 Even after my skin [e]is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I will (Y)see God,
27 Whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself,
And whom my eyes will see, and not another.
My [f]heart (Z)faints [g]within me!
28 If you say, ‘How shall we (AA)persecute him?’
And ‘[h]What pretext for a case against him can we find?’
29 Then be afraid of (AB)the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know (AC)there is judgment.”
Job 19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job Replies: I Know That My Vindicator Lives
19 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you torment me
and break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
are you not ashamed to wrong me?
4 And even if it is true that I have erred,
my error remains with me.(A)
5 If indeed you magnify yourselves against me
and make my humiliation an argument against me,(B)
6 know then that God has put me in the wrong
and closed his net around me.(C)
7 Even when I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I am not answered;
I call aloud, but there is no justice.(D)
8 He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.(E)
9 He has stripped my glory from me
and taken the crown from my head.(F)
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
he has uprooted my hope like a tree.(G)
11 He has kindled his wrath against me
and counts me as his adversary.(H)
12 His troops come on together;
they have thrown up siegeworks[a] against me
and encamp around my tent.(I)
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.(J)
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.(K)
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,
and those whom I love have turned against me.(L)
20 My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.(M)
21 Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!(N)
22 Why do you, like God, pursue me,
never satisfied with my flesh?(O)
23 “O that my words were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!(P)
24 O that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved on a rock forever!(Q)
25 For I know that my vindicator[b] lives
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth;(R)
26 and after my skin has been destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,(S)
27 whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!(T)
28 If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’
and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’(U)
29 be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you may know there is a judgment.”(V)
Job 19
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
19 Then Job answered, and said:
2 How long do you afflict my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
3 Behold, these ten times you confound me, and are not ashamed to oppress me.
4 For if I have been ignorant, my ignorance shall be with me.
5 But you have set yourselves up against me, and reprove me with my reproaches.
6 At least now understand, that God hath not afflicted me with an equal judgment, and compassed me with his scourges.
7 Behold I cry suffering violence, and no one will hear: I shall cry aloud, and there is none to judge.
8 He hath hedged in my path round about, and I cannot pass, and in my way he hath set darkness.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and hath taken the crown from my head.
10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and he hath taken away my hope, as from a tree that is plucked up.
11 His wrath is kindled against me, and he hath counted me as his enemy.
12 His troops have come together, and have made themselves a way by me, and have besieged my tabernacle round about.
13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintance like strangers have departed from me.
14 My kinsmen have forsaken me, and they that knew me, have forgotten me.
15 They that dwelt in my house, and my maidservants have counted me a stranger, and I have been like an alien in their eyes.
16 I called my servant, and he gave me no answer, I entreated him with my own mouth.
17 My wife hath abhorred my breath, and I entreated the children of my womb.
18 Even fools despise me; and when I gone from them, they spoke against me.
19 They that were sometime my counsellors, have abhorred me: and he whom I love most is turned against me.
20 The flesh being consumed. My bone hath cleaved to my skin, and nothing but lips are left about my teeth.
21 Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me.
22 Why do you persecute me as God, and glut yourselves with my flesh?
23 Who will grant me that my words may be written? Who will grant me that they may be marked down in a book?
24 With an iron pen and in a plate of lead, or else be graven with an instrument in flint stone.
25 For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth.
26 And I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I will see my God.
27 Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another: this my hope is laid up in my bosom.
28 Why then do you say now: Let us persecute him, and let us find occasion of word against him?
29 Flee then from the face of the sword, for the sword is the revenger of iniquities: and know ye that there is judgment.
Job 19
The Message
Job Answers Bildad
I Call for Help and No One Bothers
19 1-6 Job answered:
“How long are you going to keep battering away at me,
pounding me with these harangues?
Time after time after time you jump all over me.
Do you have no conscience, abusing me like this?
Even if I have, somehow or other, gotten off the track,
what business is that of yours?
Why do you insist on putting me down,
using my troubles as a stick to beat me?
Tell it to God—he’s the one behind all this,
he’s the one who dragged me into this mess.
7-12 “Look at me—I shout ‘Murder!’ and I’m ignored;
I call for help and no one bothers to stop.
God threw a barricade across my path—I’m stymied;
he turned out all the lights—I’m stuck in the dark.
He destroyed my reputation,
robbed me of all self-respect.
He tore me apart piece by piece—I’m ruined!
Then he yanked out hope by the roots.
He’s angry with me—oh, how he’s angry!
He treats me like his worst enemy.
He has launched a major campaign against me,
using every weapon he can think of,
coming at me from all sides at once.
I Know That God Lives
13-20 “God alienated my family from me;
everyone who knows me avoids me.
My relatives and friends have all left;
houseguests forget I ever existed.
The servant girls treat me like a deadbeat off the street,
look at me like they’ve never seen me before.
I call my attendant and he ignores me,
ignores me even though I plead with him.
My wife can’t stand to be around me anymore.
I’m repulsive to my family.
Even street urchins despise me;
when I come out, they taunt and jeer.
Everyone I’ve ever been close to abhors me;
my dearest loved ones reject me.
I’m nothing but a bag of bones;
my life hangs by a thread.
21-22 “Oh, friends, dear friends, take pity on me.
God has come down hard on me!
Do you have to be hard on me, too?
Don’t you ever tire of abusing me?
23-27 “If only my words were written in a book—
better yet, chiseled in stone!
Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—
and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth.
And I’ll see him—even though I get skinned alive!—
see God myself, with my very own eyes.
Oh, how I long for that day!
28-29 “If you’re thinking, ‘How can we get through to him,
get him to see that his trouble is all his own fault?’
Forget it. Start worrying about yourselves.
Worry about your own sins and God’s coming judgment,
for judgment is most certainly on the way.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson