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 make me suffer and break me into pieces with words?
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]
These ten times you have reproached me; you are not ashamed that you have treated me harshly.
4 Even if it were true that I have done things that are wrong, I have not injured you!
If it is indeed true that I have erred, my error remains my own concern.
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),
If indeed you will exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me,
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.
then you should know that God has done wrong to me and has caught me in his net.
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.
See, I cry out, “Violence!” but I get no answer. I call out for help, but there is no justice.
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.
He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness in my path.
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.
He has stripped me of my glory, and he 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 broken me down on every side, and I am gone; he has pulled up 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.
He has also kindled his wrath against me; he regards me as one of his adversaries.
12 [It is as though] he sends his army to attack me; they surround my tent, preparing to attack me.
His troops come on together; they cast up siege mounds against me and encamp around my tent.
13 “God has caused my brothers to abandon me, and all those who know me act like strangers to me.
He has put my brothers far from me; my acquaintances are wholly alienated from me.
14 All my relatives and good friends have left me.
My kinsfolk have failed me; my close friends 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.
Those who once stayed as guests in my house and my female servants regard me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.
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 call to my servant, but he gives me no answer although I entreat him with my mouth.
17 My wife does not want to come close to me because my breath [smells very bad], and even my brothers detest me.
My breath is offensive to my wife; I am even disgusting to those who were born from my mother's womb.
18 Even young children despise me; when I stand up [to talk to them], they laugh at me.
Even young children despise me; if I rise to speak, they speak against me.
19 My dearest friends detest me, and those whom I love [very much] have turned against me.
All my familiar friends abhor me; those whom I love have turned against me.
20 My body is [only] skin and bones; I am barely alive [IDM].
My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh; I survive only by the skin of 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).
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, my friends, for the hand of God has touched me.
22 Why do you cause me to suffer like God does? Why do you continue to slander [MET] me?
Why do you pursue me like God does? Will you ever be 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].
Oh, that my words were now written down! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
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.
Oh, that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
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].
But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at last he will stand on the earth;
26 And even after diseases have eaten away my skin, while I still have my body, I will see God.
after my skin, that is, this body, is destroyed, then in my flesh I will see God.
27 I will see him myself; I will see him with my own eyes! I am overwhelmed [as I think about that]!
I will see him with my own eyes—I, and not someone else. My heart fails within me.
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],’
If you say, 'How we will persecute him! The root of his troubles lies 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].”
then be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”
