Job 19
Job Answers Bildad
1 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you hurt me and crush me with your words?
3 You have insulted me ten times now and attacked me without shame.
4 Even if I have sinned, it is my worry alone.
5 If you want to make yourselves look better than I, you can blame me for my suffering.
6 Then know that God has wronged me and pulled his net around me.
7 “I shout, ‘I have been wronged!’ But I get no answer.
I scream for help but I get no justice.
8 God has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has covered my paths with darkness.
9 He has taken away my honor and removed the crown from my head.
10 He beats me down on every side until I am gone; he destroys my hope like a fallen tree.
11 His anger burns against me, and he treats me like an enemy.
12 His armies gather; they prepare to attack me. They camp around my tent.
13 “God has made my brothers my enemies, and my friends have become strangers.
14 My relatives have gone away, and my friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my female servants treat me like a stranger; they look at me as if I were a foreigner.
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer, even when I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My wife can’t stand my breath, and my own family dislikes me.
18 Even the little boys hate me and talk about me when I leave.
19 All my close friends hate me; even those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, my friends, pity me, because the hand of God has hit me.
22 Why do you chase me as God does? Haven’t you hurt me enough?
23 “How I wish my words were written down, written on a scroll.
24 I wish they were carved with an iron pen into lead, or carved into stone forever.
25 I know that my Defender lives, and in the end he will stand upon the earth.
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed, in my flesh I will see God.
27 I will see him myself; I will see him with my very own eyes. How my heart wants that to happen!
28 “If you say, ‘We will continue to trouble Job, because the problem lies with him,’
29 you should be afraid of the sword yourselves. God’s anger will bring punishment by the sword. Then you will know there is judgment.”
Job 19
Job’s Reply to Bildad
1 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you torment met
and crusht me with your words?t
3 These ten timess you have been reproaching me;t
you are not ashamed to attack me!t
4 But even if it weret true that I have erred,t
my errort remains solely my concern!
5 If indeedt you would exalt yourselvest above me
and plead my disgrace against me,s
6 knowt then that God has wronged met
and encircledt me with his net.t
Job’s Abandonment and Affliction
7 “Ift I cry out,s ‘Violence!’t
I receive no answer;t
I cry for help,
but there is no justice.
8 He has blockedt my way so I cannot pass,
and has set darknesst over my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my honor
and has taken the crown off my head.s
10 He tears me downt on every side until I perish;t
he uprootst my hopet like one uprootst a tree.
11 Thust his anger burns against me,
and he considers me among his enemies.t
12 His troopss advance together;
they throw upt a siege ramp against me,
and they camp around my tent.
Job’s Forsaken State
13 “He has put my relativest far from me;
my acquaintances onlyt turn away from me.
14 My kinsmen have failed me;
my friendst have forgotten me.t
15 My guestst and my servant girls
considert me a stranger;
I am a foreignert in their eyes.
16 I summont my servant, but he does not respond,
even though I imploret him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is repulsivet to my wife;
I am loathsomet to my brothers.t
18 Even youngsters have scorned me;
when I get up,s they scoff at me.t
19 All my closest friendst detest me;
and those whomt I love have turned against me.t
20 My bones stick to my skin and my flesh;t
I have escapedt alivet with only the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity on me, my friends, have pity on me,
for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me like God does?s
Will you never be satiated with my flesh?s
Job’s Assurance of Vindication
23 “O thatt my words were written down,
O that they were written on a scroll,t
24 that with an iron chisel and with leads
they were engraved in a rock forever!
25 As for me, I know that my Redeemert lives,
and that as the lastt
he will stand upon the earth.t
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,t
yet in my flesht I will see God,t
27 whom I will see for myself,t
and whom my own eyes will behold,
and not another.t
My heartt grows faint within me.t
28 If you say, ‘How we will pursue him,
since the root of the trouble is found in him!’s
29 Fear the sword yourselves,
for wratht brings the punishmentt by the sword,
so that you may know
that there is judgment.”s