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Job Replies: I Know That My Redeemer Lives

19 Then Job answered:

‘How long will you torment me,
    and break me in pieces with words?
These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
    are you not ashamed to wrong me?
And even if it is true that I have erred,
    my error remains with me.
If indeed you magnify yourselves against me,
    and make my humiliation an argument against me,
know then that God has put me in the wrong,
    and closed his net around me.
Even when I cry out, “Violence!” I am not answered;
    I call aloud, but there is no justice.
He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
    and he has set darkness upon my paths.
He has stripped my glory from me,
    and taken the crown from my head.
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone,
    he has uprooted my hope like a tree.
11 He has kindled his wrath against me,
    and counts me as his adversary.
12 His troops come on together;
    they have thrown up siege-works[a] against me,
    and encamp around my tent.

13 ‘He has put my family far from me,
    and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives and my close friends have failed me;
15     the guests in my house have forgotten me;
my serving-girls count me as a stranger;
    I have become an alien in their eyes.
16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
    I must myself plead with him.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife;
    I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me;
    when I rise, they talk against me.
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,
    and those whom I loved have turned against me.
20 My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh,
    and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
    for the hand of God has touched me!
22 Why do you, like God, pursue me,
    never satisfied with my flesh?

23 ‘O that my words were written down!
    O that they were inscribed in a book!
24 O that with an iron pen and with lead
    they were engraved on a rock for ever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer[b] lives,
    and that at the last he[c] will stand upon the earth;[d]
26 and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
    then in[e] my flesh I shall see God,[f]
27 whom I shall see on my side,[g]
    and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
    My heart faints within me!
28 If you say, “How we will persecute him!”
    and, “The root of the matter is found in him”;
29 be afraid of the sword,
    for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
    so that you may know there is a judgement.’

Footnotes

  1. Job 19:12 Cn: Heb their way
  2. Job 19:25 Or Vindicator
  3. Job 19:25 Or that he the Last
  4. Job 19:25 Heb dust
  5. Job 19:26 Or without
  6. Job 19:26 Meaning of Heb of this verse uncertain
  7. Job 19:27 Or for myself

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