Job’s Reply to Bildad

19 Then Job answered:

How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat[a] me without shame.(A)
Even if it is true that I have sinned,
my mistake concerns only[b] me.
If you really want to appear superior(B) to me
and would use my disgrace as evidence against me,
then understand that it is God who has wronged me
and caught me in His net.(C)

I cry out: “Violence!” but get no response;(D)
I call for help, but there is no justice.
He has blocked(E) my way so that I cannot pass through;
He has veiled my paths with darkness.(F)
He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side so that I am ruined.[c]
He uproots my hope like a tree.(G)
11 His anger(H) burns against me,
and He regards me as one of His enemies.(I)
12 His troops advance together;
they construct a ramp[d] against me
and camp(J) around my tent.

13 He has removed my brothers from me;
my acquaintances have abandoned me.(K)
14 My relatives stop coming by,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 My house guests[e] and female servants regard me as a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their sight.(L)
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer,
even if I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
and my own family[f] finds me repulsive.
18 Even young boys scorn me.
When I stand up, they mock me.(M)
19 All of my best friends[g] despise me,(N)
and those I love have turned against me.(O)
20 My skin and my flesh cling to my bones;
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

21 Have mercy on me, my friends,(P) have mercy,
for God’s hand(Q) has struck me.(R)
22 Why do you persecute me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?

23 I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll
24 or were inscribed in stone forever
by an iron stylus and lead!
25 But I know my living Redeemer,[h](S)
and He will stand on the dust[i] at last.[j](T)
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,[k]
yet I will see God in[l] my flesh.(U)
27 I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.[m]
My heart longs[n] within me.(V)

28 If you say, “How will we pursue him,
since the root of the problem lies with him?”[o]
29 then be afraid of the sword,
because wrath brings punishment by the sword,(W)
so that you may know there is a judgment.

Footnotes

  1. Job 19:3 Hb obscure
  2. Job 19:4 Lit mistake lives with
  3. Job 19:10 Lit gone
  4. Job 19:12 Lit they raise up their way
  5. Job 19:15 Or The resident aliens in my household
  6. Job 19:17 Lit and the sons of my belly
  7. Job 19:19 Lit of the men of my council
  8. Job 19:25 Or know that my Redeemer is living
  9. Job 19:25 Or earth
  10. Job 19:25 Or dust at the last, or dust as the Last One
  11. Job 19:26 Lit skin which they destroyed, or skin they destroyed in this way
  12. Job 19:26 Or apart from
  13. Job 19:27 Or not a stranger
  14. Job 19:27 Lit My kidneys grow faint
  15. Job 19:28 Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg; other Hb mss read me

Job

19 Then Job replied:

“How long will you torment(A) me
    and crush(B) me with words?
Ten times(C) now you have reproached(D) me;
    shamelessly you attack me.
If it is true that I have gone astray,
    my error(E) remains my concern alone.
If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me(F)
    and use my humiliation against me,
then know that God has wronged me(G)
    and drawn his net(H) around me.(I)

“Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response;(J)
    though I call for help,(K) there is no justice.(L)
He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;(M)
    he has shrouded my paths in darkness.(N)
He has stripped(O) me of my honor(P)
    and removed the crown from my head.(Q)
10 He tears me down(R) on every side till I am gone;
    he uproots my hope(S) like a tree.(T)
11 His anger(U) burns against me;
    he counts me among his enemies.(V)
12 His troops advance in force;(W)
    they build a siege ramp(X) against me
    and encamp around my tent.(Y)

13 “He has alienated my family(Z) from me;
    my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.(AA)
14 My relatives have gone away;
    my closest friends(AB) have forgotten me.
15 My guests(AC) and my female servants(AD) count me a foreigner;
    they look on me as on a stranger.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
    though I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
    I am loathsome(AE) to my own family.
18 Even the little boys(AF) scorn me;
    when I appear, they ridicule me.(AG)
19 All my intimate friends(AH) detest me;(AI)
    those I love have turned against me.(AJ)
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;(AK)
    I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.[a]

21 “Have pity on me, my friends,(AL) have pity,
    for the hand of God has struck(AM) me.
22 Why do you pursue(AN) me as God does?(AO)
    Will you never get enough of my flesh?(AP)

23 “Oh, that my words were recorded,
    that they were written on a scroll,(AQ)
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool(AR) on[b] lead,
    or engraved in rock forever!(AS)
25 I know that my redeemer[c](AT) lives,(AU)
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.[d]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet[e] in[f] my flesh I will see God;(AV)
27 I myself will see him
    with my own eyes(AW)—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns(AX) within me!

28 “If you say, ‘How we will hound(AY) him,
    since the root of the trouble lies in him,[g]
29 you should fear the sword yourselves;
    for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,(AZ)
    and then you will know that there is judgment.[h](BA)

Footnotes

  1. Job 19:20 Or only by my gums
  2. Job 19:24 Or and
  3. Job 19:25 Or vindicator
  4. Job 19:25 Or on my grave
  5. Job 19:26 Or And after I awake, / though this body has been destroyed, / then
  6. Job 19:26 Or destroyed, / apart from
  7. Job 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts me
  8. Job 19:29 Or sword, / that you may come to know the Almighty