1 T hen Job answered,

Then Job answered and said:

2 “ How long will you make me suffer and crush me with words?

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

3 T en times you have put me to shame and are not ashamed to wrong me.

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

4 E ven if it is true that I have done wrong, it stays with me.

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

5 Y ou put yourselves up high against me, and try to prove my shame to me.

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

6 Y ou will know then that God has wronged me, and has set a trap around me.

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

7 “ See, I cry, ‘Someone is hurting me!’ but I get no answer. I call for help, but no one stands for what is right and fair.

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

8 H e has built a wall in my way so that I cannot pass. And He has put darkness on 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 taken my honor from me, and taken the crown from my head.

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

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

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

11 H e has made His anger burn against me, and thinks of me as one who fights against Him.

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

12 H is armies come together and build a path against me. They camp around my tent.

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

13 “ He has taken my brothers far away from me and my friends have all left me.

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

14 M y brothers have left me, and my close friends have forgotten me.

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

15 T hose who live in my house and my women servants think of me as a stranger. I am like one from another country in their eyes.

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

16 I call to my servant, but he does not answer. I have to beg him.

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

17 M y breath smells bad to my wife, and I am hated by my own brothers.

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

18 E ven young children hate me. When I get up they speak against me.

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

19 A ll my friends hate me. Those I love have turned against me.

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

20 I am only skin and flesh. And I have gotten away only by 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 on me. Have pity on me, O you my friends. For the hand of God has hit 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 you make it hard for me as God does? Have I not suffered enough to please you?

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

23 “ If only my words were written! If only they were written down in a book!

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

24 I f only they were cut forever into the rock with an iron cutter and lead!

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

25 B ut as for me, I know that the One Who bought me and made me free from sin lives, and that He will stand upon the earth in the end.

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

26 E ven after my skin is destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.

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

27 I myself will see Him. With my own eyes I will see Him and not another. My heart becomes weak within me.

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

28 I f you say, ‘How will we make it hard for him?’ and, ‘The root of the problem is in him,’

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

29 y ou should be afraid of the sword for yourselves. For anger is punished by the sword, that you may know there is punishment for wrong-doing.”

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