Job 19:1-29 NIrV

[1] Job replied, [2] “How long will you people make me suffer? How long will you crush me with your words? [3] You have already accused me many times. You have attacked me without feeling any shame. [4] Suppose it’s true that I’ve gone down the wrong path. Then it’s my concern, not yours. [5] Suppose you want to place yourselves above me. Suppose you want to use my shame to prove I’m wrong. [6] Then I want you to know that God hasn’t treated me right. In fact, he has captured me in his net. [7] “I cry out, ‘Someone harmed me!’ But I don’t get any reply. I call out for help. But I’m not treated fairly. [8] God has blocked my way, and I can’t get through. He has made my paths so dark I can’t see where I’m going. [9] He has taken my wealth away from me. He has stripped me of my honor. [10] He tears me down on every side until I’m gone. He pulls up the roots of my hope as if I were a tree. [11] His anger burns against me. He thinks I’m one of his enemies. [12] His troops march toward me in force. They come at me from every direction. They camp around my tent. [13] “God has caused my family to desert me. The people I used to know are now strangers to me. [14] My relatives have gone away. My closest friends have forgotten me. [15] My guests and my female servants think of me as a stranger. They look at me as if I were an outsider. [16] I send for my servant, but he doesn’t answer. He doesn’t come, even though I beg him to. [17] My wife can’t stand the way my breath smells. My own family won’t have anything to do with me. [18] Even little children mock me. When I appear, they make fun of me. [19] All my close friends hate me. Those I love have turned against me. [20] I’m nothing but skin and bones. I’ve barely escaped death. [21] “Have pity on me, my friends! Please have pity! God has struck me down with his powerful hand. [22] Why do you chase after me as he does? Aren’t you satisfied with what you have done to me already? [23] “I wish my words were written down! I wish they were written in a book! [24] I wish they were cut into lead with an iron tool! I wish they were carved in rock forever! [25] I know that my redeemer lives. In the end he will stand on the earth. [26] Though my skin will be destroyed, in my body I’ll see God. [27] I myself will see him with my own eyes. I’ll see him, and he won’t be a stranger to me. How my heart longs for that day! [28] “You might say, ‘Let’s keep bothering Job. After all, he’s the cause of all his suffering.’ [29] But you should be afraid when God comes to judge you. He’ll be angry. He’ll punish you with his sword. Then you will know that he is the Judge.”