1 | Then Job answered and said, |
2 | How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words? |
3 | These ten times have ye reproached me: Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me. |
4 | And be it indeed that I have erred, Mine error remaineth with myself. |
5 | If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach; |
6 | Know now that God hath subverted me [in my cause], And hath compassed me with his net. |
7 | Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry for help, but there is no justice. |
8 | He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths. |
9 | He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head. |
10 | He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone; And my hope hath he plucked up like a tree. |
11 | He hath also kindled his wrath against me, And he counteth me unto him as [one of] his adversaries. |
12 | His troops come on together, And cast up their way against me, And encamp round about my tent. |
13 | He hath put my brethren far from me, And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me. |
14 | My kinsfolk have failed, And my familiar friends have forgotten me. |
15 | They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger; I am an alien in their sight. |
16 | I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, [Though] I entreat him with my mouth. |
17 | My breath is strange to my wife, And my supplication to the children of mine own mother. |
18 | Even young children despise me; If I arise, they speak against me. |
19 | All my familiar friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me. |
20 | My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. |
21 | Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me. |
22 | Why do ye persecute me as God, And are not satisfied with my flesh? |
23 | Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! |
24 | That with an iron pen and lead They were graven in the rock for ever! |
25 | But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth: |
26 | And after my skin, [even] this [body], is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God; |
27 | Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me. |
28 | If ye say, How we will persecute him! And that the root of the matter is found in me; |
29 | Be ye afraid of the sword: For wrath [bringeth] the punishments of the sword, That ye may know there is a judgment. |