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Job 19-20
GOD’S WORD Translation
Job 19-20
GOD’S WORD Translation
Job Speaks: Admit That God Is Mistreating Me
19 Then Job replied ⌞to his friends⌟,
2 “How long will you torment me
and depress me with words?
3 You have insulted me ten times now.
You’re not even ashamed of mistreating me.
4 Even if it were true that I’ve made a mistake without realizing it,
my mistake would affect only me.
5 If you are trying to make yourselves look better than me
by using my disgrace as an argument against me,
6 then I want you to know that God has wronged me
and surrounded me with his net.
7 Indeed, I cry, ‘Help! I’m being attacked!’ but I get no response.
I call for help, but there is no justice.
What God Has Done to Me
8 “God has blocked my path so that I can’t go on.
He has made my paths dark.
9 He has stripped me of my honor.
He has taken the crown off my head.
10 He beats me down on every side until I’m gone.
He uproots my hope like a tree.
11 He is very angry at me.
He considers me to be his enemy.
12 His troops assemble against me.
They build a ramp to attack me
and camp around my tent.
13 “My brothers stay far away from me.
My friends are complete strangers to me.
14 My relatives and my closest friends have stopped coming.
My house guests have forgotten me.
15 My female slaves consider me to be a stranger.
I am like a foreigner to them.
16 I call my slave, but he doesn’t answer, though I beg him.
17 My breath offends my wife.
I stink to my own children.
18 Even young children despise me.
If I stand up, they make fun of me.
19 All my closest friends are disgusted with me.
Those I love have turned against me.
20 I am skin and bones,
and I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Have pity on me, my friends!
Have pity on me because God’s hand has struck me down.
22 Why do you pursue me as God does?
Why are you never satisfied with my flesh?
Job’s Confidence in His Defender
23 “I wish now my words were written.
I wish they were inscribed on a scroll.
24 I wish they were forever engraved on a rock
with an iron stylus and lead.
25 But I know that my defender lives,
and afterwards, he will rise on the earth.
26 Even after my skin has been stripped off my body,
I will see God in my own flesh.
27 I will see him with my own eyes,
not with someone else’s.
My heart fails inside me!
Job Warns His Friends
28 “You say,
‘We will persecute him!
The root of the problem is found in him.’
29 Fear death,
because ⌞your anger⌟ is punishable by death.
Then you will know there is a judge.”
Zophar Speaks: Here Is My Answer
20 Then Zophar from Naama replied ⌞to Job⌟,
2 “My disturbing thoughts make me answer,
and because of them I am upset.
3 I have heard criticism that makes me ashamed,
but a spirit beyond my understanding gives me answers.
A Wicked Person’s Joy Is Short, His Pain Long
4 “Don’t you know
that from ancient times,
from the time humans were placed on earth,
5 the triumph of the wicked is short-lived,
and the joy of the godless person lasts only a moment?
6 If his height reaches to the sky
and his head touches the clouds,
7 he will certainly rot[a] like his own feces.
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 He will fly away like a dream and not be found.
He will be chased away like a vision in the night.
9 Eyes that saw him will see him no more.
His home will not look at him again.
10 His children will have to ask the poor for help.
His own hands will have to give back his wealth.
11 His bones, once full of youthful vigor,
will lie down with him in the dust.
12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth
and he hides it under his tongue….
13 Though he savors it and won’t let go of it
and he holds it on the roof of his mouth,
14 the food in his belly turns sour.
It becomes snake venom in his stomach.
15 He vomits up the riches that he swallowed.
God forces them out of his stomach.
16 The godless person sucks the poison of snakes.
A viper’s fang kills him.
17 He won’t be able to drink from the streams
or from the rivers of honey and buttermilk.
18 He will give back what he earned without enjoying it.
He will get no joy from the profits of his business
19 because he crushed and abandoned the poor.
He has taken by force a house that he didn’t build.
20 He will never know peace in his heart.
He will never allow anything he desires to escape ⌞his grasp⌟.
21 “Nothing is left for him to eat.
His prosperity won’t last.
22 ⌞Even⌟ with all his wealth
the full force of misery comes down on him.
23 Let that misery fill his belly.
⌞God⌟ throws his burning anger at the godless person and makes his wrath come down on him like rain.
24 If that person flees from an iron weapon,
a bronze bow will pierce him.
25 He pulls it out, and it comes out of his back.
The glittering point comes out of his gallbladder.
“Terrors come quickly to the godless person:
26 Total darkness waits in hiding for his treasure.
A fire that no one fans will burn him.
Whatever is left in his tent will be devoured.
27 Heaven exposes his sin.
Earth rises up against him.
28 A flood will sweep away his house,
a flash flood on the day of his anger.
29 This is the reward God gives to the wicked person,
the inheritance God has appointed for him.”
Footnotes
- 20:7 Or “he will be dead forever.”
Job 19-20
New International Version
Job 19-20
New International Version
Job
19 Then Job replied:
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)
Zophar
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite(BB) replied:
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)
Footnotes
- Job 19:20 Or only by my gums
- Job 19:24 Or and
- Job 19:25 Or vindicator
- Job 19:25 Or on my grave
- Job 19:26 Or And after I awake, / though this body has been destroyed, / then
- Job 19:26 Or destroyed, / apart from
- Job 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts me
- Job 19:29 Or sword, / that you may come to know the Almighty
- Job 20:4 Or Adam
- Job 20:28 Or The possessions in his house will be carried off, / washed away
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
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