1 ¶ And Job replied and said,

And Job answereth and saith: --

2 H ow long will ye anguish my soul and break me in pieces with words?

Till when do ye afflict my soul, And bruise me with words?

3 T hese ten times ye have reproached me; are ye not ashamed to make yourselves strange to me?

These ten times ye put me to shame, ye blush not. Ye make yourselves strange to me --

4 A nd if indeed I have erred, my error shall remain with me.

And also -- truly, I have erred, With me doth my error remain.

5 I f indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me and reprove me of my reproach,

If, truly, over me ye magnify yourselves, And decide against me my reproach;

6 k now now that God has overthrown me and has compassed me with his net.

Know now, that God turned me upside down, And His net against me hath set round,

7 B ehold, I shall cry out that I have been wronged, and I shall not be heard; I shall cry aloud, and there shall be no judgment.

Lo, I cry out -- violence, and am not answered, I cry aloud, and there is no judgment.

8 ¶ He has walled off my way and I shall not pass, and he has set darkness in my paths.

My way He hedged up, and I pass not over, And on my paths darkness He placeth.

9 H e has stripped me of my glory and taken the crown from my head.

Mine honour from off me He hath stripped, And He turneth the crown from my head.

10 H e has pulled me up on every side, and I am dried up; he has caused my hope to pass like an uprooted tree.

He breaketh me down round about, and I go, And removeth like a tree my hope.

11 H e has kindled his wrath against me, and he counted me unto him as one of his enemies.

And He kindleth against me His anger, And reckoneth me to Him as His adversaries.

12 H is troops came together and raised up their way over me and encamp round about my tent.

Come in do His troops together, And they raise up against me their way, And encamp round about my tent.

13 H e has put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintances are verily estranged from me.

My brethren from me He hath put far off, And mine acquaintances surely Have been estranged from me.

14 M y kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

Ceased have my neighbours And my familiar friends have forgotten me,

15 T hose that dwell in my house and my maids have counted me for a stranger; I was an alien in their sight.

Sojourners of my house and my maids, For a stranger reckon me: An alien I have been in their eyes.

16 I called my slave, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.

To my servant I have called, And he doth not answer, With my mouth I make supplication to him.

17 M y spirit came to be strange to my wife, although I intreated her for the sons of my own body.

My spirit is strange to my wife, And my favours to the sons of my womb.

18 E ven the young children despised me; as I arose, they spoke against me.

Also sucklings have despised me, I rise, and they speak against me.

19 A ll my intimate friends abhorred me; and those whom I loved are turned against me.

Abominate me do all the men of my counsel, And those I have loved, Have been turned against me.

20 M y bones cleave to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

To my skin and to my flesh Cleaved hath my bone, And I deliver myself with the skin of my teeth.

21 H ave pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God has touched me.

Pity me, pity me, ye my friends, For the hand of God hath stricken against me.

22 W hy do ye persecute me as God and are not satisfied with my flesh?

Why do you pursue me as God? And with my flesh are not satisfied?

23 ¶ Oh, that my words were now written! Oh, that they were printed in a book!

Who doth grant now, That my words may be written? Who doth grant that in a book they may be graven?

24 T hat they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!

With a pen of iron and lead -- For ever in a rock they may be hewn.

25 F or I know that my redeemer lives and that he shall rise at the latter day over the dust;

That -- I have known my Redeemer, The Living and the Last, For the dust he doth rise.

26 a nd afterward from this, my stricken skin and from my own flesh, I must see God:

And after my skin hath compassed this, Then from my flesh I see God:

27 w hom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another, though my kidneys be consumed within me.

Whom I -- I see on my side, And mine eyes have beheld, and not a stranger, Consumed have been my reins in my bosom.

28 B ut ye should say, Why should we persecute him, seeing that the root of the matter is found in me?

But ye say, `Why do we pursue after him?' And the root of the matter hath been found in me.

29 B e ye afraid of the sword; for the wrath of the sword comes because of the iniquities, that ye may know there is a judgment.

Be ye afraid because of the sword, For furious the punishments of the sword, That ye may know that a judgment.