Job 19

1 Then Job answered and said,

Then Job answered and said,

2 How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?

How long will ye vex my soul, and destroy me with words? only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.

3 These ten times have ye reproached me: Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.

Ye speak against me; ye do not feel for me, but bear hard upon me.

4 And be it indeed that I have erred, Mine error remaineth with myself.

Yea verily, I have erred in truth, (but the error abides with myself) in having spoken words which it was not right [to speak]; and my words err, and are unreasonable.

5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach;

But alas! for ye magnify yourselves against me, and insult me with reproach.

6 Know now that God hath subverted me [in my cause], And hath compassed me with his net.

Know then that it is the Lord that has troubled [me], and has raised his bulwark against me.

7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry for help, but there is no justice.

Behold, I laugh at reproach; I will not speak: [or] I will cry out, but [there is] nowhere judgment.

8 He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.

I am fenced round about, and can by no means escape: he has set darkness before my face.

9 He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.

And he has stripped me of my glory, and has taken the crown from my head.

10 He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone; And my hope hath he plucked up like a tree.

He has torn me around about, and I am gone: and he has cut off my hope like a tree.

11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, And he counteth me unto him as [one of] his adversaries.

And he has dreadfully handled me in anger, and has counted me for an enemy.

12 His troops come on together, And cast up their way against me, And encamp round about my tent.

His troops also came upon me with one accord, liars in wait compassed my ways.

13 He hath put my brethren far from me, And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.

My brethren have stood aloof from me; they have recognized strangers [rather] than me: and my friends have become pitiless.

14 My kinsfolk have failed, And my familiar friends have forgotten me.

My nearest of kin have not acknowledged me, and they that knew my name, have forgotten me.

15 They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.

[As for] my household, and my maid-servants, I was a stranger before them.

16 I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, [Though] I entreat him with my mouth.

I called my servant, and he hearkened not; and my mouth intreated [him].

17 My breath is strange to my wife, And my supplication to the children of mine own mother.

And I besought my wife, and earnestly intreated the sons of my concubines.

18 Even young children despise me; If I arise, they speak against me.

But they rejected me for ever; whenever I rise up, they speak against me.

19 All my familiar friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.

They that saw me abhorred me: the very persons whom I had loved, rose up against me.

20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

My flesh is corrupt under my skin, and my bones are held in [my] teeth.

21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.

Pity me, pity me, O friends; for it is the hand of the Lord that has touched me.

22 Why do ye persecute me as God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?

Wherefore do ye persecute me as also the Lord [does], and are not satisfied with my flesh?

23 Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

For oh that my words were written, and that they were recorded in a book forever,

24 That with an iron pen and lead They were graven in the rock for ever!

with an iron pen and lead, or graven in the rocks!

25 But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth:

For I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me,

26 And after my skin, [even] this [body], is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God;

[and] to raise up upon the earth my skin that endures these [sufferings]: for these things have been accomplished to me of the Lord;

27 Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me.

which I am conscious of in myself, which mine eye has seen, and not another, but all have been fulfilled to me in [my] bosom.

28 If ye say, How we will persecute him! And that the root of the matter is found in me;

But if ye shall also say, What shall we say before him, and [so] find the root of the matter in him?

29 Be ye afraid of the sword: For wrath [bringeth] the punishments of the sword, That ye may know there is a judgment.

Do ye also beware of deceit: for wrath will come upon transgressors; and then shall they know where their substance is.