New King James Version

New Living Translation

1Then Job answered and said:

1Then Job spoke again:

2“How long will you torment my soul, And break me in pieces with words?

2“How long will you torture me? How long will you try to crush me with your words?

3These ten times you have reproached me; You are not ashamed that you have wronged me.

3You have already insulted me ten times. You should be ashamed of treating me so badly.

4And if indeed I have erred, My error remains with me.

4Even if I have sinned, that is my concern, not yours.

5If indeed you exalt yourselves against me, And plead my disgrace against me,

5You think you’re better than I am, using my humiliation as evidence of my sin.

6Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net.

6But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net.

7“If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice.

7“I cry out, ‘Help!’ but no one answers me. I protest, but there is no justice.

8He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths.

8God has blocked my way so I cannot move. He has plunged my path into darkness.

9He has stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.

9He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.

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

10He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished. He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree.

11He has also kindled His wrath against me, And He counts me as one of His enemies.

11His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy.

12His troops come together And build up their road against me; They encamp all around my tent.

12His troops advance. They build up roads to attack me. They camp all around my tent.

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

13“My relatives stay far away, and my friends have turned against me.

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

14My family is gone, and my close friends have forgotten me.

15Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants, Count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.

15My servants and maids consider me a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them.

16I call my servant, but he gives no answer; I beg him with my mouth.

16When I call my servant, he doesn’t come; I have to plead with him!

17My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.

17My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am rejected by my own family.

18Even young children despise me; I arise, and they speak against me.

18Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me.

19All my close friends abhor me, And those whom I love have turned against me.

19My close friends detest me. Those I loved have turned against me.

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

20I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.

21“Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me!

21“Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for the hand of God has struck me.

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

22Must you also persecute me, like God does? Haven’t you chewed me up enough?

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

23“Oh, that my words could be recorded. Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument,

24That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever!

24carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock.

25For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;

25“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.

26And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,

26And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!

27Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

27I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!

28If you should say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’— Since the root of the matter is found in me,

28“How dare you go on persecuting me, saying, ‘It’s his own fault’?

29Be afraid of the sword for yourselves; For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, That you may know there is a judgment.”

29You should fear punishment yourselves, for your attitude deserves punishment. Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment.”

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.