【Job】Chapter 19 << Last Chapter Next Chapter >>

19:1 Then Job answered and said:

19:2 How long will you vex my soul, grind me down with words?

19:3 These ten times you have reviled me, have assailed me without shame!

19:4 Be it indeed that I am at fault and that my fault remains with me,

19:5 Even so, if you would vaunt yourselves against me and cast up to me any reproach,

19:6 Know then that God has dealt unfairly with me, and compassed me round with his net.

19:7 If I cry out "Injustice!" I am not heard. I cry for help, but there is no redress.

19:8 He has barred my way and I cannot pass; he has veiled my path in darkness;

19:9 He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the diadem from my brow.

19:10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; my hope he has uprooted like a tree.

19:11 His wrath he has kindled against me; he counts me among his enemies.

19:12 His troops advance as one man; they build up their road to attack me, and they encamp around my tent.

19:13 My brethren have withdrawn from me, and my friends are wholly estranged.

19:14 My kinsfolk and companions neglect me, and my guests have forgotten me.

19:15 Even my handmaids treat me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.

19:16 I call my servant, but he gives no answer, though in my speech I plead with him.

19:17 My breath is abhorred by my wife; I am loathsome to the men of my family.

19:18 The young children, too, despise me; when I appear, they speak against me.

19:19 All my intimate friends hold me in horror; those whom I loved have turned against me!

19:20 My bones cleave to my skin, and I have escaped with my flesh between my teeth.

19:21 Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me!

19:22 Why do you hound me as though you were divine, and insatiably prey upon me?

19:23 Oh, would that my words were written down! Would that they were inscribed in a record:

19:24 That with an iron chisel and with lead they were cut in the rock forever!

19:25 But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;

19:27 Whom I myself shall see: my own eyes, not another’s, shall behold him,

19:26 And from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing.

19:28 But you who say, "How shall we persecute him, seeing that the root of the matter is found in him?"

19:29 Be afraid of the sword for yourselves, for these crimes deserve the sword; that you may know that there is a judgment.

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