Job 19
1 Then Job replied:
Then Job answered and said,
2 “How long will you [three] torment me and crush my spirit by saying to me [that I am wicked]?
How long will you vex my soul, and destroy me with words? only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.
3 You have already insulted me many [HYP] times; (are you not ashamed for saying these things to me?/you should be ashamed for saying these things to me.) [RHQ]
You speak against me; you do not feel for me, but bear hard upon me.
4 Even if it were true that I have done things that are wrong, I have not injured you!
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.
5 If you truly think that you are better than I am, and you think that my being miserable now proves that I (am guilty/have committed many sins),
But alas! for you magnify yourselves against me, and insult me with reproach.
6 you need to realize that it is God who has caused me to suffer. [It is as though] he has trapped me with his net.
Know then that it is the Lord that has troubled [me], and has raised his bulwark against me.
7 “I cry out, ‘Help me!’, but no one answers me. I call out loudly, but there is no one, [not even God, ] who acts fairly toward me.
Behold, I laugh at reproach; I will not speak: [or] I will cry out, but [there is] nowhere judgment.
8 [It is as though] [MET] God has blocked my way, with the result that I cannot go where I want to; [it is as though] he has forced me to try to find my way in the darkness.
I am fenced round about, and can by no means escape: he has set darkness before my face.
9 He has (taken away my good reputation/caused people not to honor me any more); [it is as though] he removed [MET] a crown from my head.
And he has stripped me of my glory, and has taken the crown from my head.
10 He batters me from every side, and I will soon die. He has caused me to no longer confidently expect [him to do good things for me].
He has torn me around about, and I am gone: and he has cut off my hope like a tree.
11 He attacks me because he is extremely angry with me [MET], and he considers that I am his enemy.
And he has dreadfully handled me in anger, and has counted me for an enemy.
12 [It is as though] he sends his army to attack me; they surround my tent, preparing to attack me.
His troops also came upon me with one accord, liars in wait compassed my ways.
13 “God has caused my brothers to abandon me, and all those who know me act like strangers to me.
My brethren have stood aloof from me; they have recognized strangers [rather] than me: and my friends have become pitiless.
14 All my relatives and good friends have left me.
My nearest of kin have not acknowledged me, and they that knew my name, have forgotten me.
15 The people who were guests in my house have forgotten me, and my female servants consider that I am a stranger or that I am a foreigner.
[As for] my household, and my maidservants, I was a stranger before them.
16 When I summon my servants, they do not answer; I plead with them to come [to help me, but they do not come].
I called my servant, and he listened not; and my mouth entreated [him].
17 My wife does not want to come close to me because my breath [smells very bad], and even my brothers detest me.
And I implored my wife, and earnestly entreated the sons of my concubines.
18 Even young children despise me; when I stand up [to talk to them], they laugh at me.
But they rejected me for ever; whenever I rise up, they speak against me.
19 My dearest friends detest me, and those whom I love [very much] have turned against me.
They that saw me abhorred me: the very persons whom I had loved, rose up against me.
20 My body is [only] skin and bones; I am barely alive [IDM].
My flesh is corrupt under my skin, and my bones are held in [my] teeth.
21 [“I plead with] you, my [three] friends, pity me, because God has (struck [EUP] me with his hand/caused me to suffer greatly).
Pity me, pity me, O friends; for it is the hand of the Lord that has touched me.
22 Why do you cause me to suffer like God does? Why do you continue to slander [MET] me?
Therefore do you persecute me as also the Lord [does], and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “I wish/desire that someone would take these words of mine and write them permanently in a book [in order that people can read them].
For oh that my words were written, and that they were recorded in a book forever,
24 Or else, I wish that he would carve them on a rock with (a chisel/an iron tool) in order that they would last forever.
with an iron pen and lead, or graven in the rocks!
25 But I know that the one who vindicates/defends me in court is alive, and that some day he will stand [here] on the earth [and make the final decision about whether I deserve to be punished].
For I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me,
26 And even after diseases have eaten away my skin, while I still have my body, I will 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 I will see him myself; I will see him with my own eyes! I am overwhelmed [as I think about that]!
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 you three men say, ‘What more can we do to cause Job to suffer?’ and if you say, ‘He has caused his own [troubles],’
But if you shall also say, What shall we say before him, and [so] find the root of the matter in him?
29 you should be afraid that God will punish [MTY] you; he punishes those [like you] with whom he is angry; and when that happens, you will know that there is [someone who] judges [people].”
Do you also beware of deceit: for wrath will come upon transgressors; and then shall they know where their substance is.
