New International Version NIV
New King James Version NKJV
1 Then Job replied:
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Then Job answered and said:
2 “How long will you torment me and crush me with words?
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"How long will you torment my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
3 Ten times now you have reproached me; shamelessly you attack me.
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These ten times you have reproached me; You are not ashamed that you have wronged me.
4 If it is true that I have gone astray, my error remains my concern alone.
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And if indeed I have erred, My error remains with me.
5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me,
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If indeed you exalt yourselves against me, And plead my disgrace against me,
6 then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me.
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Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net.
7 “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, 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 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness.
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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 and removed the crown from my head.
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He has stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side till I am 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 His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies.
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He has also kindled His wrath against me, And He counts me as one of His enemies.
12 His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against me and encamp 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 “He has alienated my family from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
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"He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away; my closest friends have forgotten me.
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My relatives have failed, And my close friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner; they look on me as on a stranger.
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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 summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him with my own mouth.
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I call my servant, but he gives no answer; I beg him with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family.
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My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.
18 Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me.
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Even young children despise me; I arise, and they speak against me.
19 All my intimate friends detest 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 nothing but skin and bones; 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, for the hand of God has struck me.
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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? Will you never get enough of my flesh?
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Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,
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"Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever!
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That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever!
25 I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
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For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;
26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
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And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,
27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within 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 “If you say, ‘How we will hound him, since the root of the trouble lies 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 you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment. ”
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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."
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.