Job 19:1-29 ERV

[1] Then Job answered: [2] "How long will you hurt me and crush me with your words? [3] You have insulted me ten times now. You have attacked me without shame! [4] Even if I have sinned, it is my problem, not yours! [5] You want me to look bad to make yourselves look good. You say my troubles are proof that I did wrong. [6] I want you to know it was God who did this. He set this trap for me. [7] I shout, 'He hurt me!' but get no answer. No one hears my cry for fairness. [8] God has blocked my way to keep me from getting through. He has hidden my path in darkness. [9] He took away my honor. He took the crown from my head. [10] He hits me on every side until I am worn out. He takes away my hope. It is like a tree pulled up by the roots. [11] His anger burns against me. He treats me like an enemy. [12] He sends his army to attack me. They build attack towers around me. They camp around my tent. [13] "God has made my brothers hate me. Those who knew me have become strangers. [14] My relatives have left me. My friends have forgotten me. [15] My servant girls and visitors in my home look at me as if I am a stranger and a foreigner. [16] I call for my servant, but he does not answer. Even if I beg for help, he will not answer. [17] My wife hates the smell of my breath. My own brothers hate me. [18] Even little children make fun of me. When I get up, they say bad things about me. [19] All my close friends hate me. Even my loved ones have turned against me. [20] "I am so thin, my skin hangs loose on my bones. I have little life left in me. [21] "Pity me, my friends, pity me, because God is against me. [22] Why do you persecute me as God does? Don't you get tired of hurting me? [23] "I wish someone would write down everything I say. I wish my words were written on a scroll. [24] I wish they were carved with an iron tool into lead or scratched on a rock so that they would last forever. [25] I know that there is someone to defend me and that he lives! And in the end, he will stand here on earth and defend me. [26] After I leave my body and my skin has been destroyed, I know I will still see God. [27] I will see him with my own eyes. I myself, not someone else, will see God. And I cannot tell you how excited that makes me feel! [28] "Maybe you will say, 'How can we push Job a little harder and make him realize that he is the source of his problems?' [29] But you need to worry about your own punishment. God might use the sword against you! Then you will know there is a time for judgment."