Job 19

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Then Job answered and said:	1 But Job answered by saying:
2 How long will you vex my soul, grind me down with words?	2 How long will you afflict my soul and wear me down with words?
3 These ten times you have reviled me, have assailed me without shame!	3 So, ten times you confound me and are not ashamed to oppress me.
4 Be it indeed that I am at fault and that my fault remains with me,	4 Now, of course, if I have been ignorant, my ignorance will be with me.
5 Even so, if you would vaunt yourselves against me and cast up to me any reproach,	5 But you have risen up against me, and you accuse me to my disgrace.
6 Know then that God has dealt unfairly with me, and compassed me round with his net.	6 At least now you should understand that God has not afflicted me with a balanced judgment, though he has encompassed me with his scourges.
7 If I cry out "Injustice!" I am not heard. I cry for help, but there is no redress.	7 Behold, I will cry out, enduring violence, and no one will hear. I will announce loudly, but there is no one who may judge.
8 He has barred my way and I cannot pass; he has veiled my path in darkness;	8 He has hemmed in my path, and I cannot pass; he has added darkness to my difficult path.
9 He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the diadem from my brow.	9 He has plundered me of my glory, and he has stolen the crown from my head.
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; my hope he has uprooted like a tree.	10 He has destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and, like an uprooted tree, he has taken away my hope.
11 His wrath he has kindled against me; he counts me among his enemies.	11 His fury has raged against me, and in this way he has treated me like his enemy.
12 His troops advance as one man; they build up their road to attack me, and they encamp around my tent.	12 His troops have gathered together, and they have made their way to me, and they have besieged my tabernacle all around.
13 My brethren have withdrawn from me, and my friends are wholly estranged.	13 He has put my brothers far from me, and my friends have withdrawn from me like strangers.
14 My kinsfolk and companions neglect me, and my guests have forgotten me.	14 My kinsmen have forsaken me, and those who knew me, have forgotten me.
15 Even my handmaids treat me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.	15 The inhabitants of my house and my maidservants treat me just as if I were a stranger, and I have been like an sojourner in their eyes.
16 I call my servant, but he gives no answer, though in my speech I plead with him.	16 I called my servant, and he did not respond; I pleaded with him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is abhorred by my wife; I am loathsome to the men of my family.	17 My wife has shuddered at my breath, and I have begged the sons of my loins.
18 The young children, too, despise me; when I appear, they speak against me.	18 Even the foolish have looked down on me, and, when I withdrew from them, they spoke ill of me.
19 All my intimate friends hold me in horror; those whom I loved have turned against me!	19 Those who were sometime my counselors, treat me like an abomination; and he whom I valued the most has turned against me.
20 My bones cleave to my skin, and I have escaped with my flesh between my teeth.	20 Since my flesh has been consumed, my bone adheres to my skin, and only my lips have been left around my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me!	21 Have mercy on me, have compassion on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord has touched me.
22 Why do you hound me as though you were divine, and insatiably prey upon me?	22 Why do you pursue me just as God does, and satiate yourselves with my flesh?
23 Oh, would that my words were written down! Would that they were inscribed in a record:	23 Who will grant to me that my words may be written down? Who will grant to me that they may be inscribed in a book,
24 That with an iron chisel and with lead they were cut in the rock forever!	24 with an iron pen and a plate of lead, or else be carved in stone?
25 But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;	25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day I will rise out of the earth.
26 And from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing.	26 And I will be enveloped again with my skin, and in my flesh I will see my God.
27 Whom I myself shall see: my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him,	27 It is he whom I myself will see, and he whom my eyes will behold, and no other. This, my hope, has taken rest in my bosom.
28 But you who say, "How shall we persecute him, seeing that the root of the matter is found in him?"	28 Why then do you now say: “Let us pursue him, and let us find a basis to speak against him?”
29 Be afraid of the sword for yourselves, for these crimes deserve the sword; that you may know that there is a judgment.	29 So then, flee from the face of the sword, for the sword is the avenger of iniquities; but know this: there is to be a judgment.