Job 19  Living Bible

19 The reply of Job:

² “How long are you going to trouble me, and try to break me with your words? ³ Ten times now you have declared I am a sinner. Why aren’t you ashamed to deal with me so harshly? ⁴ And if indeed I was wrong, you have yet to prove it. ⁵ You think yourselves so great? Then prove my guilt!

⁶ “The fact of the matter is that God has overthrown me and caught me in his net. ⁷ I scream for help and no one hears me. I shriek, but get no justice. ⁸ God has blocked my path and turned my light to darkness. ⁹ He has stripped me of my glory and removed the crown from my head. ¹⁰ He has broken me down on every side, and I am done for. He has destroyed all hope. ¹¹ His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy. ¹² He sends his troops to surround my tent.

¹³ “He has sent away my brothers and my friends. ¹⁴ My relatives have failed me; my friends have all forsaken me. ¹⁵ Those living in my home, even my servants, regard me as a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them. ¹⁶ I call my servant, but he doesn’t come; I even beg him! ¹⁷ My own wife and brothers refuse to recognize me. ¹⁸ Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they mock.

¹⁹ “My best friends abhor me. Those I loved have turned against me. ²⁰ I am skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.

²¹ “Oh, my friends, pity me, for the angry hand of God has touched me. ²² Why must you persecute me as God does? Why aren’t you satisfied with my anguish? ^23-24 Oh, that I could write my plea with an iron pen in the rock forever.

²⁵ “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. ²⁶ And I know that after this body has decayed, this body shall see God!^{[a] 27} Then he will be on my side! Yes, I shall see him, not as a stranger, but as a friend! What a glorious hope!

²⁸ “How dare you go on persecuting me, as though I were proven guilty? ²⁹ I warn you, you yourselves are in danger of punishment for your attitude.”