1 T hen Job answered:

Then Job responded,

2 H ow long will you vex and torment me and break me in pieces with words?

“How long will you torment me And crush me with words?

3 T hese ten times you have reproached me; you are not ashamed that you make yourselves strange.

“These ten times you have insulted me; You are not ashamed to wrong me.

4 A nd if it were true that I have erred, my error would remain with me.

“Even if I have truly erred, My error lodges with me.

5 I f indeed you magnify yourselves against me and plead against me my reproach and humiliation,

“If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me And prove my disgrace to me,

6 K now that God has overthrown and put me in the wrong and has closed His net about me.

Know then that God has wronged me And has closed His net around me. Everything Is against Him

7 B ehold, I cry out, Violence! but I am not heard; I cry aloud for help, but there is no justice.

“Behold, I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer; I shout for help, but there is no justice.

8 H e has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and He has set darkness upon my paths.

“He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, And He has put darkness on my paths.

9 H e has stripped me of my glory and taken the crown from my head.

“He has stripped my honor from me And removed the crown from my head.

10 H e has broken me down on every side, and I am gone; my hope has He pulled up like a tree.

“He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.

11 H e has also kindled His wrath against me, and He counts me as one of His adversaries.

“He has also kindled His anger against me And considered me as His enemy.

12 H is troops come together and cast up their way and siege works against me and encamp round about my tent.

“His troops come together, And build up their way against me And camp around my tent.

13 H e has put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

“He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

14 M y kinsfolk have failed me, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

“My relatives have failed, And my intimate friends have forgotten me.

15 T hose who live temporarily in my house and my maids count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.

“Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight.

16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer, though I beseech him with words.

“I call to my servant, but he does not answer; I have to implore him with my mouth.

17 I am repulsive to my wife and loathsome to the children of my own mother.

“My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

18 E ven young children despise me; when I get up, they speak against me.

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

19 A ll the men of my council and my familiar friends abhor me; those whom I loved are turned against me.

“All my associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me.

20 M y bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped with the skin or gums of my teeth.

“My bone clings to my skin and my flesh, And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

21 H ave pity on me! Have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!

“Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me.

22 W hy do you, as if you were God, pursue and persecute me? why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

“Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh? Job Says, “My Redeemer Lives”

23 O h, that the words I now speak were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!

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

24 T hat with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock forever!

“That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever!

25 F or I know that my Redeemer and Vindicator lives, and at last He will stand upon the earth.

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

26 A nd after my skin, even this body, has been destroyed, then from my flesh or without it I shall see God,

“Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

27 W hom I, even I, shall see for myself and on my side! And my eyes shall behold Him, and not as a stranger! My heart pines away and is consumed within me.

Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

28 I f you say, How we will pursue him! that the root of all these is found in me,

“If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’ And ‘ What pretext for a case against him can we find?’

29 T hen beware and be afraid of the sword, for wrathful are the punishments of that sword, that you may know there is a judgment.

“ Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know there is judgment.”