|
2 "How long will you torment me
and crush me with words? |
3 Ten times now you have reproached me;
shamelessly you attack me. |
4 If it is true that I have gone astray,
my error remains my concern alone. |
5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and use my humiliation against me, |
6 then know that God has wronged me
and drawn his net around me. |
7 "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response;
though I call for help, there is no justice. |
8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;
he has shrouded my paths in darkness. |
9 He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head. |
10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone;
he uproots my hope like a tree. |
11 His anger burns against me;
he counts me among his enemies. |
12 His troops advance in force;
they build a siege ramp against me
and encamp around my tent. |
13 "He has alienated my brothers from me;
my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. |
14 My kinsmen have gone away;
my friends have forgotten me. |
15 My guests and my maidservants count me a stranger;
they look upon me as an alien. |
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 to my own brothers. |
18 Even the little boys scorn me;
when I appear, they ridicule me. |
19 All my intimate friends detest me;
those I love have turned against me. |
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;
I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.1 19:20 Or only my gums |
21 "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
for the hand of God has struck me. |
22 Why do you pursue me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh? |
23 "Oh, that my words were recorded,
that they were written on a scroll, |
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on2 19:24 Or and lead,
or engraved in rock forever! |
25 I know that my Redeemer3 19:25 Or defender lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.4 19:25 Or upon my grave |
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet5 19:26 Or And after I awake, / though this body has been destroyed, / then in6 19:26 Or / apart from my flesh I will see God; |
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes-I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me! |
28 "If you say, 'How we will hound him,
since the root of the trouble lies in him,7 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts me ' |
29 you should fear the sword yourselves;
for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,
and then you will know that there is judgment.8 19:29 Or / that you may come to know the Almighty " |
