GOD'S WORD Translation GW
New King James Version NKJV
1 Then Job replied [to his friends],
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Then Job answered and said:
2 "How long will you torment me and depress me with words?
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"How long will you torment my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
3 You have insulted me ten times now. You're not even ashamed of mistreating me.
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These ten times you have reproached me; You are not ashamed that you have wronged me.
4 Even if it were true that I've made a mistake without realizing it, my mistake would affect only me.
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And if indeed I have erred, My error remains with me.
5 If you are trying to make yourselves look better than me by using my disgrace as an argument against me,
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If indeed you exalt yourselves against me, And plead my disgrace against me,
6 then I want you to know that God has wronged me and surrounded me with his net.
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Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net.
7 Indeed, I cry, 'Help! I'm being attacked!' but I get no response. I call for help, but there is no justice.
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"If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice.
8 "God has blocked my path so that I can't go on. He has made my paths dark.
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He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my honor. He has taken the crown off my head.
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He has stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
10 He beats me down on every side until I'm gone. He uproots my hope like a tree.
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He breaks me down on every side, And I am gone; My hope He has uprooted like a tree.
11 He is very angry at me. He considers me to be his enemy.
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He has also kindled His wrath against me, And He counts me as one of His enemies.
12 His troops assemble against me. They build a ramp to attack me and camp around my tent.
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His troops come together And build up their road against me; They encamp all around my tent.
13 "My brothers stay far away from me. My friends are complete strangers to me.
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"He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives and my closest friends have stopped coming. My house guests have forgotten me.
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My relatives have failed, And my close friends have forgotten me.
15 My female slaves consider me to be a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them.
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Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants, Count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.
16 I call my slave, but he doesn't answer, though I beg him.
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I call my servant, but he gives no answer; I beg him with my mouth.
17 My breath offends my wife. I stink to my own children.
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My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.
18 Even young children despise me. If I stand up, they make fun of me.
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Even young children despise me; I arise, and they speak against me.
19 All my closest friends are disgusted with me. Those I love have turned against me.
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All my close friends abhor me, And those whom I love have turned against me.
20 I am skin and bones, and I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
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My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 "Have pity on me, my friends! Have pity on me because God's hand has struck me down.
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"Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me!
22 Why do you pursue me as God does? Why are you never satisfied with my flesh?
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Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 "I wish now my words were written. I wish they were inscribed on a scroll.
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"Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
24 I wish they were forever engraved on a rock with an iron stylus and lead.
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That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever!
25 But I know that my defender lives, and afterwards, he will rise on the earth.
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For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;
26 Even after my skin has been stripped off my body, I will see God in my own flesh.
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And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,
27 I will see him with my own eyes, not with someone else's. My heart fails inside me!
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Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
28 "You say, 'We will persecute him! The root of the problem is found in him.'
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If you should say, 'How shall we persecute him?'-- Since the root of the matter is found in me,
29 Fear death, because [your anger] is punishable by death. Then you will know there is a judge."
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Be afraid of the sword for yourselves; For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, That you may know there is a judgment."