Job 19:1–20:29

Job

19 Then Job replied:

2 “How long will you tormento me

and crushp me with words?

3 Ten timesq now you have reproachedr me;

shamelessly you attack me.

4 If it is true that I have gone astray,

my errors remains my concern alone.

5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above met

and use my humiliation against me,

6 then know that God has wronged meu

and drawn his netv around me.w

7 “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response;x

though I call for help,y there is no justice.z

8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;a

he has shrouded my paths in darkness.b

9 He has strippedc me of my honord

and removed the crown from my head.e

10 He tears me downf on every side till I am gone;

he uproots my hopeg like a tree.h

11 His angeri burns against me;

he counts me among his enemies.j

12 His troops advance in force;k

they build a siege rampl against me

and encamp around my tent.m

13 “He has alienated my familyn from me;

my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.o

14 My relatives have gone away;

my closest friendsp have forgotten me.

15 My guestsq and my female servantsr count me a foreigner;

they look on me as on a stranger.

16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,

though I beg him with my own mouth.

17 My breath is offensive to my wife;

I am loathsomes to my own family.

18 Even the little boyst scorn me;

when I appear, they ridicule me.u

19 All my intimate friendsv detest me;w

those I love have turned against me.x

20 I am nothing but skin and bones;y

I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.a

21 “Have pity on me, my friends,z have pity,

for the hand of God has strucka me.

22 Why do you pursueb me as God does?c

Will you never get enough of my flesh?d

23 “Oh, that my words were recorded,

that they were written on a scroll,e

24 that they were inscribed with an iron toolf onb lead,

or engraved in rock forever!g

25 I know that my redeemerc h lives,i

and that in the end he will stand on the earth.d

26 And after my skin has been destroyed,

yete inf my flesh I will see God;j

27 I myself will see him

with my own eyesk—I, and not another.

How my heart yearnsl within me!

28 “If you say, ‘How we will houndm him,

since the root of the trouble lies in him,g’

29 you should fear the sword yourselves;

for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,n

and then you will know that there is judgment.h”o

Zophar

20 Then Zophar the Naamathitep replied:

2 “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer

because I am greatly disturbed.q

3 I hear a rebuker that dishonors me,

and my understanding inspires me to reply.

4 “Surely you know how it has been from of old,s

ever since mankinda was placed on the earth,

5 that the mirth of the wickedt is brief,

the joy of the godlessu lasts but a moment.v

6 Though the pridew of the godless person reaches to the heavensx

and his head touches the clouds,y

7 he will perish forever,z like his own dung;

those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’a

8 Like a dreamb he flies away,c no more to be found,

banishedd like a vision of the night.e

9 The eye that saw him will not see him again;

his place will look on him no more.f

10 His childreng must make amends to the poor;

his own hands must give back his wealth.h

11 The youthful vigori that fills his bonesj

will lie with him in the dust.k

12 “Though evill is sweet in his mouth

and he hides it under his tongue,m

13 though he cannot bear to let it go

and lets it linger in his mouth,n

14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;o

it will become the venom of serpentsp within him.

15 He will spit out the richesq he swallowed;

God will make his stomach vomitr them up.

16 He will suck the poisons of serpents;

the fangs of an adder will kill him.t

17 He will not enjoy the streams,

the riversu flowing with honeyv and cream.w

18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;x

he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.y

19 For he has oppressed the poorz and left them destitute;a

he has seized housesb he did not build.

20 “Surely he will have no respite from his craving;c

he cannot save himself by his treasure.d

21 Nothing is left for him to devour;

his prosperity will not endure.e

22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;f

the full force of misery will come upon him.g

23 When he has filled his belly,h

God will vent his burning angeri against him

and rain down his blows on him.j

24 Though he fleesk from an iron weapon,

a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.l

25 He pulls it out of his back,

the gleaming point out of his liver.

Terrorsm will come over him;n

26 total darknesso lies in wait for his treasures.

A firep unfanned will consume himq

and devour what is left in his tent.r

27 The heavens will expose his guilt;

the earth will rise up against him.s

28 A flood will carry off his house,t

rushing watersb on the day of God’s wrath.u

29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,

the heritage appointed for them by God.”v