19 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you
torment me [ b ]
and crush [ c ] me with your words? [ d ]
3 These ten times [ e ] you have been reproaching me; [ f ]
you are not ashamed to attack me. [ g ]
4 But even if it were [ h ] true that I have erred, [ i ]
my error [ j ] remains solely my concern!
5 If indeed [ k ] you would exalt yourselves [ l ] above me
and plead my disgrace against me, [ m ]
6 know [ n ] then that God has wronged me [ o ]
and encircled [ p ] me with his net. [ q ]
7 “If [ r ] I cry out, [ s ] ‘Violence!’ [ t ]
I receive no answer; [ u ]
I cry for help,
but there is no justice.
8 He has blocked [ v ] my way so I cannot pass,
and has set darkness [ w ] over my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my
honor
and has taken the crown off my head. [ x ]
10 He tears me down [ y ] on every side until I perish; [ z ]
he uproots [ aa ] my hope [ ab ] like an uprooted [ ac ] tree.
11 Thus [ ad ] his anger burns against me,
and he considers me among his enemies. [ ae ]
12 His troops [ af ] advance together;
they throw up [ ag ] a siege ramp against me,
and they camp around my tent.
13 “He has put my
relatives [ ah ] far from me;
my acquaintances only [ ai ] turn away from me.
14 My kinsmen have failed
me;
my friends [ aj ] have forgotten me. [ ak ]
15 My guests [ al ] and my servant girls
consider [ am ] me a stranger;
I am a foreigner [ an ] in their eyes.
16 I summon [ ao ] my servant, but he does not respond,
even though I implore [ ap ] him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is
repulsive [ aq ] to my wife;
I am loathsome [ ar ] to my brothers. [ as ]
18 Even youngsters have
scorned me;
when I get up, [ at ] they scoff at me. [ au ]
19 All my closest
friends [ av ] detest me;
and those whom [ aw ] I love have turned against me. [ ax ]
20 My bones stick to my
skin and my flesh; [ ay ]
I have escaped [ az ] alive [ ba ] with only the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity on me, my
friends, have pity on me,
for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me
like God does? [ bb ]
Will you never be satiated with my flesh? [ bc ]
23 “O that [ bd ] my words were written down!
O that they were written on a scroll! [ be ]
24 O that with an iron
chisel and with lead [ bf ]
they were engraved in a rock forever!
25 As for me, I know that
my Redeemer [ bg ] lives,
and that as the last [ bh ]
he will stand upon the earth. [ bi ]
26 And after my skin has
been destroyed, [ bj ]
yet in my flesh [ bk ] I will see God, [ bl ]
27 whom I will see for
myself, [ bm ]
and whom my own eyes will behold,
and not another. [ bn ]
My heart [ bo ] grows faint within me. [ bp ]
28 If you say, ‘How we
will pursue him,
since the root of the trouble is found in him!’ [ bq ]
29 Fear the sword
yourselves,
for wrath [ br ] brings the punishment [ bs ] by the sword,
so that you may know
that there is judgment.” [ bt ]