1Then Job answered and said,2How long will ye vex my soul, and destroy me with words? only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.3Ye speak against me; ye do not feel for me, but bear hard upon me.4Yea verily, I have erred in truth, (but the error abides with myself)5in having spoken words which it was not right to speak; and my words err, and are unseasonable.6But alas! for ye magnify yourselves against me, and insult me with reproach.7Know then that it is the Lord that has troubled me, and has raised his bulwark against me.8Behold, I laugh at reproach; I will not speak: or I will cry out, but there is nowhere judgment.9I am fenced round about, and can by no means escape: he has set darkness before my face.10And he has stripped me of my glory, and has taken the crown from my head.11He has torn me round about, and I am gone: and he has cut off my hope like a tree.12And he has dreadfully handled me in anger, and has counted me for an enemy.13His troops also came upon me with one accord, liers in wait compassed my ways.14My brethren have stood aloof from me; they have recognised strangers rather than me: and my friends have become pitiless.15My nearest of kin have not acknowledged me, and they that knew my name, have forgotten me.16As for my household, and my maid-servants, I was a stranger before them.17I called my servant, and he hearkened not; and my mouth intreated him.18And I besought my wife, and earnestly intreated the sons of my concubines.19But they rejected me for ever; whenever I rise up, they speak against me.20They that saw me abhorred me: the very persons whom I had loved, rose up against me.21My flesh is corrupt under my skin, and my bones are held in my teeth.22Pity me, pity me, O friends; for it is the hand of the Lord that has touched me.23Wherefore do ye persecute me as also the Lord does, and are not satisfied with my flesh?24For oh that my words were written, and that they were recorded in a book for ever,25with an iron pen and lead, or graven in the rocks!26For I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me,27and to raise up upon the earth my skin that endures these sufferings: for these things have been accomplished to me of the Lord;28which I am conscious of in myself, which mine eye has seen, and not another, but all have been fulfilled to me in my bosom.29But if ye shall also say, What shall we say before him, and so find the root of the matter in him?30Do ye also beware of deceit: for wrath will come upon transgressors; and then shall they know where their substance is.
Listen to Job Chapter 19 read aloud with professional narration — plus bookmarks, offline access, daily readings, and Orthodox prayers. Free for iPhone & Android.
