English Standard Version

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Then Job answered and said:

1Then Job responded,

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?

3These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me?

3"These ten times you have insulted me; You are not ashamed to wrong me.

4And even if it be true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.

4"Even if I have truly erred, My error lodges with me.

5If indeed you magnify yourselves against me and make my disgrace an argument against me,

5"If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me And prove my disgrace to me,

6know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me.

6Know then that God has wronged me And has closed His net around me.

7Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice.

7"Behold, I cry, 'Violence!' but I get no answer; I shout for help, but there is no justice.

8He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths.

8"He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, And He has put darkness on my paths.

9He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head.

9"He has stripped my honor from me And removed the crown from my head.

10He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.

10"He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.

11He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary.

11"He has also kindled His anger against me And considered me as His enemy.

12His troops come on together; they have cast up their siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent.

12"His troops come together, And build up their way against me And camp around my tent.

13“He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.

13"He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

14My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me.

14"My relatives have failed, And my intimate friends have forgotten me.

15The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes.

15"Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight.

16I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.

16"I call to my servant, but he does not answer; I have to implore him with my mouth.

17My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.

17"My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

18Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me.

18"Even young children despise me; I rise up and they speak against me.

19All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me.

19"All my associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me.

20My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

20"My bone clings to my skin and my flesh, And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

21Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!

21"Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me.

22Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

22"Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?

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

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

24Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!

24"That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever!

25For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

25"As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

26And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,

26"Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

27whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

27Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

28If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’ and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’

28"If you say, 'How shall we persecute him?' And 'What pretext for a case against him can we find?'

29be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.”

29"Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know there is judgment."

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

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