New American Standard Bible 1995

International Standard Version

1Then Job responded,

1In response, Job said:

2"How long will you torment me And crush me with words?

2"How long do you intend to keep torturing me and trying to break me by what you're saying?

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

3Ten times you've tried to humiliate me! You're not ashamed to wrong me!

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

4Even if it's true that I've erred, my error only affects me.

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

5If you really intend to vaunt yourselves over me, and make my problems the basis of your case against me,

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

6then at least you must know that God has accused me of wrong, and trapped me with his net."

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

7"Although I cried out 'Violence!' I received no answer; I cried for help, but there was no justice.

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

8He blocked my path, so I cannot pass; and he turned out the lights on my pathways.

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

9"He has stripped me of my honor; he has stolen the crown off my head!

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

10He is breaking me down on every side, and now it's too late for me; he has uprooted my hopes like a tree.

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

11His anger burns against me; he regards me as his adversary.

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

12His troops march in a column against me, erecting their siege ramps against me; they surround my tent."

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

13"My brothers are alienated from me; my acquaintances are estranged;

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

14my relatives have failed me; and my friends have abandoned me.

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

15Those who live in my house— and my maidservants, too!— treat me like a stranger; they think I'm a foreigner.

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

16"I call to my servant, but he doesn't respond, even though I beg to him earnestly.

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

17My wife says my breath stinks; even my children say I smell bad!

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

18Even little children hate me; when I get up, they mock me.

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

19My closest friends detest me; even the ones I love have turned against me.

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

20I'm a pile of skin and bones; I have barely escaped by the skin of my teeth."

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

21"Be gracious to me, be gracious to me, my friends, because God's hand has struck me.

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

22Why are you chasing me, as God has been doing? Aren't you satisfied that I'm sick?

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

23If only my words were written down; if only they were inscribed in a book

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

24using an iron stylus with lead for ink! Then they'd be engraved in rock forever.

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

25"As for me, I know that my Vindicator is alive; And he, the Last One, will take his stand on the soil.

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

26Even after my skin has been destroyed, clothed in my flesh I will see God,

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

27whom I will see for myself. My own eyes will look at him— there won't be anyone else for me!— He is the culmination of my innermost desire."

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

28"When you're thinking about asking yourselves, 'How will we pursue him, since the root of the problem is with him?'

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."

29Make sure that you remain wary of God's sword, for God's wrath brings with it the sword of punishment, by which you'll know there's a judgment."

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.