Job
Summary
Job Chapter 19 contains one of the most famous and powerful declarations in the entire book. Job rebukes his friends for their relentless "reproaches" and describes how God has stripped him of his honour and surrounded him with darkness. He feels abandoned by family, friends, and even his own wife, stating he has escaped by the "skin of his teeth." Yet, in the midst of this total isolation, Job suddenly proclaims, "I know that my Redeemer lives!" He expresses a certain hope that one day he will see God for himself, even after his body has decayed. He concludes by warning his friends to fear the sword of judgement for their unjust treatment of him.
Then Job replied:
"How long will you torment me and crush me with words?"
"Ten times now you have reproached me; you are not ashamed to assault me."
"Even if it were true that I have gone astray, my error would be my business alone."
"If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me,"
"then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me."
"Though I cry out, 'Violence!' I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice."
"He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness."
"He has stripped me of my honour and removed the crown from my head."
"He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree."
"His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies."
"His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent."
"He has alienated my family from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged."
"My relatives have gone away; my closest friends have forgotten me."
"My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner; they look on me as on a stranger."
"I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him for mercy with my own mouth."
"My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family."
"Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me."
"All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me."
"I am nothing but skin and bone; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth."
"Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me."
"Why do you pursue me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?"
"Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,"
"that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock for ever!"
"I know that my Redeemer [1] lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth."
"And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;"
"I myself will see him with my own eyes, I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"
"If you say, 'How we will hound him, since the root of the trouble lies in him,'"
"you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is a judgement."