1  Then Job answered and said

1  But Job answered by saying

2  How long will ye vex my soul, and crush me with words?

3  These ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not ashamed that ye deal harshly with me.

3  Ye speak against me; ye do not feel for me, but bear hard upon me.

3  So, ten times you confound me and are not ashamed to oppress me.

4  And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.

4  Yea verily, I have erred in truth, (but the error abides with myself) in having spoken words which it was not right to speak; and my words err, and are unreasonable.

4  Now, of course, if I have been ignorant, my ignorance will be with me.

5  If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach;

5  But alas! for ye magnify yourselves against me, and insult me with reproach.

6  Know now that God hath subverted my cause, and hath compassed me with His net.

6  At least now you should understand that God has not afflicted me with a balanced judgment, though he has encompassed me with his scourges.

7  Behold, I cry out: 'Violence!' but I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no justice.

7  Behold, I will cry out, enduring violence, and no one will hear. I will announce loudly, but there is no one who may judge.

7  If I howl, no one answers me; and if I complain, there is no one to avenge me.

8  He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and hath set darkness in my paths.

8  I am fenced round about, and can by no means escape: he has set darkness before my face.

8  He has hemmed in my path, and I cannot pass; he has added darkness to my difficult path.

9  He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.

9  And he has stripped me of my glory, and has taken the crown from my head.

9  He has plundered me of my glory, and he has stolen 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.

10  He has torn me around about, and I am gone: and he has cut off my hope like a tree.

10  He has destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and, like an uprooted tree, he has taken away my hope.

11  He hath also kindled His wrath against me, and He counteth me unto Him as one of His adversaries.

11  And he has dreadfully handled me in anger, and has counted me for an enemy.

11  His fury has raged against me, and in this way he has treated me like his enemy.

12  His troops come on together, and cast up their way against me, and encamp round about my tent.

12  His troops have gathered together, and they have made their way to me, and they have besieged my tabernacle all around.

13  He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.

13  My brethren have stood aloof from me; they have recognized strangers rather than me: and my friends have become pitiless.

13  My brothers are far off from me, and my acquaintances have deserted me.

14  My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

14  My nearest of kin have not acknowledged me, and they that knew my name, have forgotten me.

14  My kinsmen have forsaken me, and those who knew me, have forgotten me.

15  They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger; I am become an alien in their sight.

15  As for my household, and my maid-servants, I was a stranger before them.

15  The inhabitants of my house and my maidservants treat me just as if I were a stranger, and I have been like an sojourner in their eyes.

16  I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, though I entreat him with my mouth.

16  I called my servant, and he hearkened not; and my mouth intreated him.

17  My breath is abhorred of my wife, and I am loathsome to the children of my tribe.

17  And I besought my wife, and earnestly intreated the sons of my concubines.

18  Even urchins despised me; if I arise, they speak against me.

18  But they rejected me for ever; whenever I rise up, they speak against me.

18  Even the foolish have looked down on me, and, when I withdrew from them, they spoke ill of me.

19  All my intimate friends abhor me; and they whom I loved are turned against me.

19  They that saw me abhorred me: the very persons whom I had loved, rose up against me.

19  Those who were sometime my counselors, treat me like an abomination; and he whom I valued the most has turned against me.

20  My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

20  My flesh is corrupt under my skin, and my bones are held in my teeth.

20  Since my flesh has been consumed, my bone adheres to my skin, and only my lips have been left around my teeth.

21  Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.

21  Pity me, pity me, O friends; for it is the hand of the Lord that has touched me.

21  Have mercy on me, have compassion on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord has touched me.

22  Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

22  Wherefore do ye persecute me as also the Lord does, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

22  Why do you also persecute me like God, and you are not satisfied with the hurt of my flesh?

23  Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

23  For oh that my words were written, and that they were recorded in a book forever,

23  Who will grant to me that my words may be written down? Who will grant to me that they may be inscribed in a book,

24  That with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock for ever!

24  with an iron pen and lead, or graven in the rocks!

25  But as for me, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He will witness at the last upon the dust;

25  For I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me,

25  For I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day I will rise out of the earth.

26  And when after my skin this is destroyed, then without my flesh shall I see God;

26  and to raise up upon the earth my skin that endures these sufferings: for these things have been accomplished to me of the Lord;

26  Although devouring worms have covered my skin and my flesh,

27  Whom I, even I, shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another's. My reins are consumed within me.

27  Yet, if my eyes shall see God, then my heart also will see the light; but now my body is consumed.

28  If ye say: 'How we will persecute him!' seeing that the root of the matter is found in me;

28  Why then do you now say: “Let us pursue him, and let us find a basis to speak against him?”

28  For you will say, Why did we persecute him? For a good report will follow me and vindicate me.

29  Be ye afraid of the sword; for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.