1 A nd Job answered and said,

And Job answereth and saith: --

2 H ow long will ye vex my soul, and crush me with words?

Till when do ye afflict my soul, And bruise me with words?

3 T hese ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not ashamed to stupefy me.

These ten times ye put me to shame, ye blush not. Ye make yourselves strange to me --

4 A nd be it I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.

And also -- truly, I have erred, With me doth my error remain.

5 I f indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and prove against me my reproach,

If, truly, over me ye magnify yourselves, And decide against me my reproach;

6 K now now that +God hath overthrown me, and hath surrounded me with his net.

Know now, that God turned me upside down, And His net against me hath set round,

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

Lo, I cry out -- violence, and am not answered, I cry aloud, and there is no judgment.

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

My way He hedged up, and I pass not over, And on my paths darkness He placeth.

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

Mine honour from off me He hath stripped, And He turneth the crown from my head.

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

He breaketh me down round about, and I go, And removeth like a tree my hope.

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

And He kindleth against me His anger, And reckoneth me to Him as His adversaries.

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

Come in do His troops together, And they raise up against me their way, And encamp round about my tent.

13 H e hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are quite estranged from me.

My brethren from me He hath put far off, And mine acquaintances surely Have been estranged from me.

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

Ceased have my neighbours And my familiar friends have forgotten me,

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

Sojourners of my house and my maids, For a stranger reckon me: An alien I have been in their eyes.

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

To my servant I have called, And he doth not answer, With my mouth I make supplication to him.

17 M y breath is strange to my wife, and my entreaties to the children of my womb.

My spirit is strange to my wife, And my favours to the sons of my womb.

18 E ven young children despise me; I rise up, and they speak against me.

Also sucklings have despised me, I rise, and they speak against me.

19 A ll my intimate friends abhor me, and they whom I loved are turned against me.

Abominate me do all the men of my counsel, And those I have loved, Have been turned against me.

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

To my skin and to my flesh Cleaved hath my bone, And I deliver myself with the skin of my teeth.

21 H ave pity upon me, have pity upon me, ye my friends; for the hand of +God hath touched me.

Pity me, pity me, ye my friends, For the hand of God hath stricken against me.

22 W hy do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

Why do you pursue me as God? And with my flesh are not satisfied?

23 O h would that my words were written! oh that they were inscribed in a book!

Who doth grant now, That my words may be written? Who doth grant that in a book they may be graven?

24 T hat with an iron style and lead they were graven in the rock for ever!

With a pen of iron and lead -- For ever in a rock they may be hewn.

25 A nd me, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and the Last, he shall stand upon the earth;

That -- I have known my Redeemer, The Living and the Last, For the dust he doth rise.

26 A nd after my skin this shall be destroyed, yet from out of my flesh shall I see +God;

And after my skin hath compassed this, Then from my flesh I see God:

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

Whom I -- I see on my side, And mine eyes have beheld, and not a stranger, Consumed have been my reins in my bosom.

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

But ye say, `Why do we pursue after him?' And the root of the matter hath been found in me.

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

Be ye afraid because of the sword, For furious the punishments of the sword, That ye may know that a judgment.