| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Then Job answered and said: | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2“How long will you torment my soul, And break me in pieces with words? | 2How long will you torment me and crush me with words? |
| 3These ten times you have reproached me; You are not ashamed that you have wronged me. | 3You have humiliated me ten times now, and you mistreat me without shame. |
| 4And if indeed I have erred, My error remains with me. | 4Even if it is true that I have sinned, my mistake concerns only me. |
| 5If indeed you exalt yourselves against me, And plead my disgrace against me, | 5If you really want to appear superior to me and would use my disgrace as evidence against me, |
| 6Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net. | 6then understand that it is God who has wronged me and caught me in His net. |
| 7“If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice. | 7I cry out: "Violence!" but get no response; I call for help, but there is no justice. |
| 8He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths. | 8He has blocked my way so that I cannot pass through; He has veiled my paths with darkness. |
| 9He has stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head. | 9He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head. |
| 10He breaks me down on every side, And I am gone; My hope He has uprooted like a tree. | 10He tears me down on every side so that I am ruined. He uproots my hope like a tree. |
| 11He has also kindled His wrath against me, And He counts me as one of His enemies. | 11His anger burns against me, and He regards me as one of His enemies. |
| 12His troops come together And build up their road against me; They encamp all around my tent. | 12His troops advance together; they construct a ramp against me and camp around my tent. |
| 13“He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. | 13He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me. |
| 14My relatives have failed, And my close friends have forgotten me. | 14My relatives stop coming by, and my close friends have forgotten me. |
| 15Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants, Count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight. | 15My house guests and female servants regard me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight. |
| 16I call my servant, but he gives no answer; I beg him with my mouth. | 16I call for my servant, but he does not answer, even if I beg him with my own mouth. |
| 17My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am repulsive to the children of my own body. | 17My breath is offensive to my wife, and my own family finds me repulsive. |
| 18Even young children despise me; I arise, and they speak against me. | 18Even young boys scorn me. When I stand up, they mock me. |
| 19All my close friends abhor me, And those whom I love have turned against me. | 19All of my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me. |
| 20My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. | 20My skin and my flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. |
| 21“Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me! | 21Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for God's hand has struck me. |
| 22Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh? | 22Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh? |
| 23“Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! | 23I wish that my words were written down, that they were recorded on a scroll |
| 24That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever! | 24or were inscribed in stone forever by an iron stylus and lead! |
| 25For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; | 25But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last. |
| 26And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, | 26Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. |
| 27Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! | 27I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me. |
| 28If you should say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’— Since the root of the matter is found in me, | 28If you say, "How will we pursue him, since the root of the problem lies with him?" |
| 29Be afraid of the sword for yourselves; For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, That you may know there is a judgment.” | 29then be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment. |
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