“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

“My bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

“Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,
For the hand of God has struck me.

“Why do you persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?

“That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!

Whom I myself shall behold,
And whom my eyes will see and not another.
My heart faints within me!

“If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’
And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’

“Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

“Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know there is judgment.”

Then Job responded,

“Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

“How long will you torment me
And crush me with words?

“All my associates abhor me,
And those I love have turned against me.

“He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.

“He has removed my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

“Even if I have truly erred,
My error lodges with me.

“His troops come together,
And build up their way against me
And camp around my tent.

“My relatives have failed,
And my intimate friends have forgotten me.

“He has stripped my honor from me
And removed the crown from my head.

“If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,

“Behold, I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.

“My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

Know then that God has wronged me
And has closed His net around me.

“These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.

“He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put darkness on my paths.

“Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.

“Even young children despise me;
I rise up and they speak against me.

“I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore him with my mouth.

“He has also kindled His anger against me
And considered me as His enemy.