Job 19:1-29 (Today's New International Version)

Job

1 Then Job replied: 2 "How long will you torment¹ me and crush² me with words? 3 Ten times³ now you have reproached⁴ me; shamelessly you attack me. 4 If it is true that I have gone astray, my error⁵ remains my concern alone. 5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me⁶ and use my humiliation against me, 6 then know that God has wronged me⁷ and drawn his net⁸ around me.⁹ 7 "Though I cry, 'Violence!' I get no response;¹⁰ though I call for help,¹¹ there is no justice.¹² 8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;¹³ he has shrouded my paths in darkness.¹⁴ 9 He has stripped¹⁵ me of my honor¹⁶ and removed the crown from my head.¹⁷ 10 He tears me down¹⁸ on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope¹⁹ like a tree.²⁰ 11 His anger²¹ burns against me; he counts me among his enemies.²² 12 His troops advance in force;²³ they build a siege ramp²⁴ against me and encamp around my tent.²⁵ 13 "He has alienated my family²⁶ from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.²⁷ 14 My relatives have gone away; my friends²⁸ have forgotten me. 15 My guests²⁹ and my female servants³⁰ 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 loathsome³¹ to my own family. 18 Even the little boys³² scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me.³³ 19 All my intimate friends³⁴ detest me;³⁵ those I love have turned against me.³⁶ 20 I am nothing but skin and bones;³⁷ I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.^a 21 "Have pity on me, my friends,³⁸ have pity, for the hand of God has struck³⁹ me. 22 Why do you pursue⁴⁰ me as God does?⁴¹ Will you never get enough of my flesh?⁴² 23 "Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,⁴³ 24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool⁴⁴ on^b lead, or engraved in rock forever!⁴⁵ 25 I know that my redeemer^c46 lives,⁴⁷ 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;⁴⁸ 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes⁴⁹--I, and not another. How my heart yearns⁵⁰ within me! 28 "If you say, 'How we will hound⁵¹ 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,⁵² and then you will know that there is judgment.^h "⁵³