1 ¶ And Job replied and said,

Then Job answered and said:

2 H ow long will ye anguish my soul and break me in pieces with words?

“How long will you torment my soul, And break me in pieces with words?

3 T hese ten times ye have reproached me; are ye not ashamed to make yourselves strange to me?

These ten times you have reproached me; You are not ashamed that you have wronged me.

4 A nd if indeed I have erred, my error shall remain with me.

And if indeed I have erred, My error remains with me.

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

If indeed you exalt yourselves against me, And plead my disgrace against me,

6 k now now that God has overthrown me and has compassed me with his net.

Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net.

7 B ehold, I shall cry out that I have been wronged, and I shall not be heard; I shall cry aloud, and there shall be no judgment.

“If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice.

8 ¶ He has walled off my way and I shall not pass, and he has set darkness in my paths.

He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths.

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

He has stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.

10 H e has pulled me up on every side, and I am dried up; he has caused my hope to pass like an uprooted tree.

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

11 H e has kindled his wrath against me, and he counted me unto him as one of his enemies.

He has also kindled His wrath against me, And He counts me as one of His enemies.

12 H is troops came together and raised up their way over me and encamp round about my tent.

His troops come together And build up their road against me; They encamp all around my tent.

13 H e has put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintances are verily 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, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

My relatives have failed, And my close friends have forgotten me.

15 T hose that dwell in my house and my maids have counted me for a stranger; I was an alien in their sight.

Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants, Count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.

16 I called my slave, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.

I call my servant, but he gives no answer; I beg him with my mouth.

17 M y spirit came to be strange to my wife, although I intreated her for the sons of my own body.

My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.

18 E ven the young children despised me; as I arose, they spoke against me.

Even young children despise me; I arise, and they speak against me.

19 A ll my intimate friends abhorred me; and those whom I loved are turned against me.

All my close friends abhor me, And those whom I love have 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.

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

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

“Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me!

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

Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?

23 ¶ Oh, that my words were now written! Oh, that they were printed in a book!

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

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

That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever!

25 F or I know that my redeemer lives and that he shall rise at the latter day over the dust;

For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;

26 a nd afterward from this, my stricken skin and from my own flesh, I must see God:

And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,

27 w hom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another, though my kidneys be consumed within me.

Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

28 B ut ye should say, Why should we persecute him, seeing that the root of the matter is found in me?

If you should say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’— Since the root of the matter is found in me,

29 B e ye afraid of the sword; for the wrath of the sword comes because of the iniquities, that ye may know there is a judgment.

Be afraid of the sword for yourselves; For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, That you may know there is a judgment.”