1 T hen Job responded,

Then Job answered and said,

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

How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?

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

These ten times have ye reproached me: Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.

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

And be it indeed that I have erred, Mine error remaineth with myself.

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

If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach;

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

Know now that God hath subverted me in my cause, And hath compassed me with his net.

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

Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry for help, but there is no justice.

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

He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.

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

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

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

He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone; And my hope hath he plucked up like a tree.

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

He hath also kindled his wrath against me, And he counteth me unto him as one of his adversaries.

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

His troops come on together, And cast up their way against me, And encamp round about my tent.

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

He hath put my brethren far from me, And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.

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

My kinsfolk have failed, And my familiar friends have forgotten me.

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

They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.

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

I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, Though I entreat him with my mouth.

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

My breath is strange to my wife, And my supplication to the children of mine own mother.

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

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

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

All my familiar friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.

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

My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

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

Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.

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

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

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

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

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

That with an iron pen and lead They were graven in the rock for ever!

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

But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth:

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

And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God;

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

Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me.

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

If ye say, How we will persecute him! And that the root of the matter is found in me;

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

Be ye afraid of the sword: For wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, That ye may know there is a judgment.