Job 19

Job Chapter 19
Job's sixth speech, a response to Bildad

Then Job spoke again
"How long will you torture me?

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

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

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

You think you're better than I am
Using my humiliation as evidence of my sin
But it is God who has wronged me
Capturing me in his net
I cry out, "Help!" but no one answers me
I protest, but there is no justice

God has blocked my way so I cannot move
He has plunged my path into darkness
He has stripped me of my honor
And removed the crown from my head
He has demolished me on every side
And I am finished

He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree
His fury burns against me
He counts me as an enemy
His troops advance, they build up roads to attack me
They camp all around my tent

My relatives stay far away
And my friends have turned against me
My family is gone
And my close friends have forgotten me
My servants and maids consider me a stranger

I am like a foreigner to them
When I call my servant, he doesn't come
I have to plead with him
My breath is repulsive to my wife
I am rejected by my own family
Even young children despise me

When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me
My close friends detest me
Those I love have turned against me

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

Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy
For the hand of God has struck me
Must you also persecute me like God does?
Haven't you chewed me up enough?

Oh, that my words could be recorded
Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument
Carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead
Engraved forever in the rock

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives
And he will stand upon the earth at last
And after my body has decayed
Yet in my body I will see God
I will see him for myself
Yes, I will see him with my own eyes
I am overwhelmed at the thought

How dare you go on persecuting me
Saying, "It's his own fault"
You should fear punishment yourselves
For your attitude deserves punishment
Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment"