[1] The reply of Job: [2] "How long are you going to trouble me, and try to break me with your words? [3] Ten times now you have declared I am a sinner. Why aren't you ashamed to deal with me so harshly? [4] And if indeed I was wrong, you have yet to prove it. [5] You think yourselves so great? Then prove my guilt! [6] "The fact of the matter is that God has overthrown me and caught me in his net. [7] I scream for help and no one hears me. I shriek, but get no justice. [8] God has blocked my path and turned my light to darkness. [9] He has stripped me of my glory and removed the crown from my head. [10] He has broken me down on every side, and I am done for. He has destroyed all hope. [11] His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy. [12] He sends his troops to surround my tent. [13] "He has sent away my brothers and my friends. [14] My relatives have failed me; my friends have all forsaken me. [15] Those living in my home, even my servants, regard me as a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them. [16] I call my servant, but he doesn't come; I even beg him! [17] My own wife and brothers refuse to recognize me. [18] Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they mock. [19] "My best friends abhor me. Those I loved have turned against me. [20] I am skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth. [21] "Oh, my friends, pity me, for the angry hand of God has touched me. [22] Why must you persecute me as God does? Why aren't you satisfied with my anguish? [23] Oh, that I could write my plea with an iron pen in the rock forever. [25] "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. [26] And I know that after this body has decayed, this body shall see God! [27] Then he will be on my side! Yes, I shall see him, not as a stranger, but as a friend! What a glorious hope! [28] "How dare you go on persecuting me, as though I were proven guilty? [29] I warn you, you yourselves are in danger of punishment for your attitude."
