1 T hen Job responded,

Then Job answered,

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

“How long will you torment me, and crush me with words?

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

You have reproached me ten times. You aren’t ashamed that you attack me.

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

If it is true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.

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

If indeed you 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 has subverted me, and has surrounded 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 has walled up my way so that I can’t pass, and has set darkness in my paths.

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

He has 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 has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. My hope he has plucked up like a tree.

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

He has also kindled his wrath against me. He counts me among his adversaries.

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

His troops come on together, build a siege ramp against me, and encamp around my tent.

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

“He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

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

My relatives have gone away. 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.

Those who 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 to my servant, and he gives me no answer. I beg him with my mouth.

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

My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my 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. They whom I loved have 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 bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

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

“Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; for the hand of God has 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 you 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 engraved in the rock forever!

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 lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.

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

After my skin is destroyed, then in 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. My eyes shall see, 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 you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’ because 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 afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.”