Job 19-21

New International Version

² “How long will you torment^(A) me
    and crush^(B) me with words?
³ Ten times^(C) now you have reproached^(D) me;
    shamelessly you attack me.
⁴ If it is true that I have gone astray,
    my error^(E) remains my concern alone.
⁵ If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me^(F)
    and use my humiliation against me,
⁶ then know that God has wronged me^(G)
    and drawn his net^(H) around me.^(I)

⁷ “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response;^(J)
    though I call for help,^(K) there is no justice.^(L)
8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;^(M)
    he has shrouded my paths in darkness.^(N)
9 He has stripped^(O) me of my honor^(P)
    and removed the crown from my head.^(Q)
10 He tears me down^(R) on every side till I am gone;
    he uproots my hope^(S) like a tree.^(T)
11 His anger^(U) burns against me;
    he counts me among his enemies.^(V)
12 His troops advance in force;^(W)
    they build a siege ramp^(X) against me
    and encamp around my tent.^(Y)

¹³ “He has alienated my family^(Z) from me;
    my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.^(AA)
14 My relatives have gone away;
    my closest friends^(AB) have forgotten me.
¹⁵ My guests^(AC) and my female servants^(AD) 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 loathsome^(AE) to my own family.
¹⁸ Even the little boys^(AF) scorn me;
    when I appear, they ridicule me.^(AG)
19 All my intimate friends^(AH) detest me;^(AI)
    those I love have turned against me.^(AJ)
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;^(AK)
    I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.^[a]

²¹ “Have pity on me, my friends,^(AL) have pity,
    for the hand of God has struck^(AM) me.
²² Why do you pursue^(AN) me as God does?^(AO)
    Will you never get enough of my flesh?^(AP)

²³ “Oh, that my words were recorded,
    that they were written on a scroll,^(AQ)
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool^(AR) on^[b] lead,
    or engraved in rock forever!^(AS)
25 I know that my redeemer^[c](AT) lives,^(AU)
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.^[d]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet^[e] in^[f] my flesh I will see God;^(AV)
27 I myself will see him
    with my own eyes^(AW)—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns^(AX) within me!

²⁸ “If you say, ‘How we will hound^(AY) 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,^(AZ)
    and then you will know that there is judgment.^[h]”^(BA)

² “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
    because I am greatly disturbed.^(BC)
3 I hear a rebuke^(BD) that dishonors me,
    and my understanding inspires me to reply.

⁴ “Surely you know how it has been from of old,^(BE)
    ever since mankind^[i] was placed on the earth,
⁵ that the mirth of the wicked^(BF) is brief,
    the joy of the godless^(BG) lasts but a moment.^(BH)
6 Though the pride^(BI) of the godless person reaches to the heavens^(BJ)
    and his head touches the clouds,^(BK)
7 he will perish forever,^(BL) like his own dung;
    those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’^(BM)
8 Like a dream^(BN) he flies away,^(BO) no more to be found,
    banished^(BP) like a vision of the night.^(BQ)
9 The eye that saw him will not see him again;
    his place will look on him no more.^(BR)
10 His children^(BS) must make amends to the poor;
    his own hands must give back his wealth.^(BT)
11 The youthful vigor^(BU) that fills his bones^(BV)
    will lie with him in the dust.^(BW)

¹² “Though evil^(BX) is sweet in his mouth
    and he hides it under his tongue,^(BY)
13 though he cannot bear to let it go
    and lets it linger in his mouth,^(BZ)
14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;^(CA)
    it will become the venom of serpents^(CB) within him.
¹⁵ He will spit out the riches^(CC) he swallowed;
    God will make his stomach vomit^(CD) them up.
¹⁶ He will suck the poison^(CE) of serpents;
    the fangs of an adder will kill him.^(CF)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
    the rivers^(CG) flowing with honey^(CH) and cream.^(CI)
18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;^(CJ)
    he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.^(CK)
19 For he has oppressed the poor^(CL) and left them destitute;^(CM)
    he has seized houses^(CN) he did not build.

²⁰ “Surely he will have no respite from his craving;^(CO)
    he cannot save himself by his treasure.^(CP)
21 Nothing is left for him to devour;
    his prosperity will not endure.^(CQ)
22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;^(CR)
    the full force of misery will come upon him.^(CS)
23 When he has filled his belly,^(CT)
    God will vent his burning anger^(CU) against him
    and rain down his blows on him.^(CV)
24 Though he flees^(CW) from an iron weapon,
    a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.^(CX)
25 He pulls it out of his back,
    the gleaming point out of his liver.
Terrors^(CY) will come over him;^(CZ)
26     total darkness^(DA) lies in wait for his treasures.
A fire^(DB) unfanned will consume him^(DC)
    and devour what is left in his tent.^(DD)
27 The heavens will expose his guilt;
    the earth will rise up against him.^(DE)
28 A flood will carry off his house,^(DF)
    rushing waters^[j] on the day of God’s wrath.^(DG)
29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
    the heritage appointed for them by God.”^(DH)

² “Listen carefully to my words;^(DI)
    let this be the consolation you give me.^(DJ)
3 Bear with me while I speak,
    and after I have spoken, mock on.^(DK)

⁴ “Is my complaint^(DL) directed to a human being?
    Why should I not be impatient?^(DM)
5 Look at me and be appalled;
    clap your hand over your mouth.^(DN)
6 When I think about this, I am terrified;^(DO)
    trembling seizes my body.^(DP)
7 Why do the wicked live on,
    growing old and increasing in power?^(DQ)
8 They see their children established around them,
    their offspring before their eyes.^(DR)
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;^(DS)
    the rod of God is not on them.^(DT)
10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
    their cows calve and do not miscarry.^(DU)
11 They send forth their children as a flock;^(DV)
    their little ones dance about.
¹² They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;^(DW)
    they make merry to the sound of the pipe.^(DX)
13 They spend their years in prosperity^(DY)
    and go down to the grave^(DZ) in peace.^[k](EA)
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!^(EB)
    We have no desire to know your ways.^(EC)
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    What would we gain by praying to him?’^(ED)
16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.^(EE)

¹⁷ “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?^(EF)
    How often does calamity^(EG) come upon them,
    the fate God allots in his anger?^(EH)
18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
    like chaff^(EI) swept away^(EJ) by a gale?^(EK)
19 It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’^(EL)
    Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!^(EM)
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction;^(EN)
    let them drink^(EO) the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.^(EP)
21 For what do they care about the families they leave behind^(EQ)
    when their allotted months^(ER) come to an end?^(ES)

²² “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,^(ET)
    since he judges even the highest?^(EU)
23 One person dies in full vigor,^(EV)
    completely secure and at ease,^(EW)
24 well nourished^(EX) in body,^[l]
    bones^(EY) rich with marrow.^(EZ)
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,^(FA)
    never having enjoyed anything good.
²⁶ Side by side they lie in the dust,^(FB)
    and worms^(FC) cover them both.^(FD)

²⁷ “I know full well what you are thinking,
    the schemes by which you would wrong me.
²⁸ You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,^(FE)
    the tents where the wicked lived?’^(FF)
29 Have you never questioned those who travel?
    Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
³⁰ that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,^(FG)
    that they are delivered from^[m] the day of wrath?^(FH)
31 Who denounces their conduct to their face?
    Who repays them for what they have done?^(FI)
32 They are carried to the grave,
    and watch is kept over their tombs.^(FJ)
33 The soil in the valley is sweet to them;^(FK)
    everyone follows after them,
    and a countless throng goes^[n] before them.^(FL)

³⁴ “So how can you console me^(FM) with your nonsense?
    Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”^(FN)