| Revised Standard Version (RSV) | New International Version (NIV) |
| 1 Then Job answered: | 1 Then Job replied: |
| 2 "How long will you torment me, and break me in pieces with words? | 2 "How long will you torment me and crush me with words? |
| 3 These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me? | 3 Ten times now you have reproached me; shamelessly you attack me. |
| 4 And even if it be true that I have erred, my error remains with myself. | 4 If it is true that I have gone astray, my error remains my concern alone. |
| 5 If indeed you magnify yourselves against me, and make my humiliation an argument against me, | 5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me, |
| 6 know then that God has put me in the wrong, and closed his net about me. | 6 then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me. |
| 7 Behold, I cry out, 'Violence!' but I am not answered; I call aloud, but there is no justice. | 7 "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice. |
| 8 He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. | 8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness. |
| 9 He has stripped from me my glory, and taken the crown from my head. | 9 He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head. |
| 10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree. | 10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree. |
| 11 He has kindled his wrath against me, and counts me as his adversary. | 11 His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies. |
| 12 His troops come on together; they have cast up siegeworks against me, and encamp round about my tent. | 12 His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent. |
| 13 "He has put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me. | 13 "He has alienated my brothers from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. |
| 14 My kinsfolk and my close friends have failed me; | 14 My kinsmen have gone away; my friends have forgotten me. |
| 15 the guests in my house have forgotten me; my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become an alien in their eyes. | 15 My guests and my maidservants count me a stranger; they look upon me as an alien. |
| 16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must beseech him with my mouth. | 16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him with my own mouth. |
| 17 I am repulsive to my wife, loathsome to the sons of my own mother. | 17 My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own brothers. |
| 18 Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me. | 18 Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me. |
| 19 All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. | 19 All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. |
| 20 My bones cleave to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. | 20 I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped with only 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! | 21 "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me. |
| 22 Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh? | 22 Why do you pursue me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh? |
| 23 "Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! | 23 "Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, |
| 24 Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock for ever! | 24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! |
| 25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth; | 25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. |
| 26 and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then from my flesh I shall see God, | 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; |
| 27 whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! | 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! |
| 28 If you say, 'How we will pursue him!' and, 'The root of the matter is found in him'; | 28 "If you say, 'How we will hound him, since the root of the trouble lies in him, ' |
| 29 be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment." | 29 you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment. " |
| Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Revised Standard Version - Holy Bible) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |