American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Then Job answered and said,
How long will ye vex my soul,And break me in pieces with words?
These ten times have ye reproached me:Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.
And be it indeed that I have erred,Mine error remaineth with myself.
{Or, Will ye indeed…reproach?}If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me,And plead against me my reproach;
Know now that God hath {Or, overthrown me}subverted me in my cause,And hath compassed me with his net.
Behold, I {Or, cry out, Violence:}cry out of wrong, but I am not heard:I cry for help, but there is no justice.
He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass,And hath set darkness in my paths.
He hath stripped me of my glory,And taken the crown from my head.
He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone;And my hope hath he plucked up like a tree.
He hath also kindled his wrath against me,And he counteth me unto him as one of his adversaries.
His troops come on together,And cast up their way against me,And encamp round about my tent.
He hath put my brethren far from me,And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
My kinsfolk have failed,And my familiar friends have forgotten me.
They that {Or, sojourn}dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger;I am an alien in their sight.
I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer,Though I entreat him with my mouth.
My breath is strange to my wife,And {Or, I make supplication Or, I am loathsome}my supplication to the children {Or, of my body}of mine own mother.
Even young children despise me;If I arise, they speak against me.
All {Hebrew: the men of my council.}my familiar friends abhor me,And they whom I loved are turned against me.
My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh,And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends;For the hand of God hath touched me.
Why do ye persecute me as God,And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Oh that my words were now written!Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
That with an iron pen and leadThey were graven in the rock for ever!
{Or, For}But as for me I know that my {Or, vindicator Hebrew: goel.}Redeemer liveth,And at last he will stand up upon the {Hebrew: dust.}earth:
{Or, And after my skin hath been thus destroyed, Yet from my flesh shall I see God}And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed,Then without my flesh shall I see God;
Whom I, even I, shall see, {Or, for myself}on my side,And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.My {Hebrew: reins.}heart is consumed within me.
If ye say, How we will persecute him!And that the root of the matter is found in me;
Be ye afraid of the sword:For {Or, wrathful are}wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword,That ye may know there is a judgment.
For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me;And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me:
Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge?Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not,Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, {Job 5:13.}He that taketh the wise in their craftiness:
Although thou knowest that I am not wicked,And there is none that can deliver out of thy hand?
Thy hands have framed me and fashioned meTogether round about; yet thou dost destroy me.
He breaketh me with breach upon breach;He runneth upon me like a {Or, mighty man}giant.
I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin,And have {Or, defiled}laid my horn in the dust.
My face is red with weeping,And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
Although there is no violence in my hands,And my prayer is pure.
My foot hath held fast to his steps;His way have I kept, and turned not aside.
I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips;I have treasured up the words of his mouth {Or, more than my own law}more than my {Or, portion See Proverbs 30:8 }necessary food.
But {Or, he is one}he is in one mind, and who can turn him?And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
As God liveth, who hath taken away my right,And the Almighty, who hath {Hebrew: made my soul bitter.}vexed my soul:
{Or, All the while my breath is in me…nostrils; surely}(For my life is yet whole in me,And the spirit of God is in my nostrils);
Surely my lips {Or, do}shall not speak uprighteousness,Neither {Or, doth}shall my tongue utter deceit.
Far be it from me that I should justify you:Till I die I will not put away mine integrity from me.
My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go:My heart {Or, doth not reproach me for any of my days}shall not reproach me so long as I live.