Job 19

1 Then Job answered and said,

And Job answered and said,

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

How long will ye vex my soul, and crush me with words?

3 You speak against me; you do not feel for me, but bear hard upon me.

These ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not ashamed to stupefy me.

4 Yes 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.

And be it [that] I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.

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

If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and prove against me my reproach,

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

Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath surrounded me with his net.

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

Behold, I cry out of wrong, and I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

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

He hath hedged up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.

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

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

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

He breaketh me down on every side, and I am gone; and my hope hath he torn up as a tree.

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

And he hath kindled his anger against me, and hath counted me unto him as one of his enemies.

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

His troops have come together and cast up their way against me, and have encamped round about my tent.

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

He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are quite estranged from me.

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

My kinsfolk have failed, and my known friends have forgotten me.

15 [As for] my household, and my maidservants, I was a stranger before them.

The sojourners in my house and my maids count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.

16 I called my servant, and he listened not; and my mouth entreated [him].

I called my servant, and he answered not; I entreated him with my mouth.

17 And I implored my wife, and earnestly entreated the sons of my concubines.

My breath is strange to my wife, and my entreaties to the children of my [mother's] womb.

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

Even young children despise me; I rise up, and they speak against me.

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

All my intimate friends abhor me, and they whom I loved are turned against me.

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

My bones cleave to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

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

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

22 Therefore do you persecute me as also the Lord [does], and are not satisfied with my flesh?

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

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

Oh would that my words were written! oh that they were inscribed in a book!

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

That with an iron style and lead they were graven in the rock for ever!

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

And [as for] me, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and the Last, he shall stand upon the earth;

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

And [if] after my skin this shall be destroyed, yet from out of my flesh shall I see God;

27 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.

Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another: — my reins are consumed within me.

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

If ye say, How shall we persecute him? when the root of the matter is found in me,

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

Be ye yourselves afraid of the sword! for the sword is fury against misdeeds, that ye may know there is a judgment.