Job 19

Job replies to Bildad ^{▼▼19:0 Now Job is angry with his friends because of the things that they have said. He thinks that God has gone away. He feels that he is alone. He is sad because his friends and his family see him as a stranger. But then Job says something that is very special (verses 25 to 27). He believes that God will save him. Even if he dies, God will make him alive again. He is sure that, some day, he will see God.}

1 Then Job replied. And this is what he said.

2 ‘You are still trying to hurt me with the things that you say about me.

You should not still be doing that after such a long time.

3 Many times, you have been angry because of the things that I have done.

And you have been quick to say bad things about me.

4 It may be true that I have done wrong things.

But the things that I have done have not hurt you.

5 You seem to think that you are a better person than me.

My troubles do not mean that I am a bad person.

But you seem to think that they do mean that.

6 But you should be able to see that God has caused all my troubles.

He is trying to catch me in a trap.

7 God is not fair. He did not have a good reason to cause my troubles.

I shouted and I asked for help. But no one came to help me.

8 He stopped me so that I could not go past.

He made my path dark so that I could not see the way to go.

9 He has removed all the things that I had.

He has caused people to think that I am a bad person.

10 Everywhere I go, God is there to attack me. My life is nearly finished.

I am like a tree that he has dug out of the ground.
There is nothing more that I can hope for in my life.

11 He is very angry with me.

I am one of the people that he sees as his enemies.

12 He sends his army to attack me. They build roads so that they can reach me.

They are all round me.

13 Now my brothers do not want to meet me.

And my friends think that I am a stranger.

14 My relatives have left me.

And my best friends have forgotten me.

15 Visitors to my house think that I am a stranger.

And my servants think that I come from a foreign country.

16 I ask my servant to come to me. But he does not answer me.

Even when I ask him again, he still does not come to me.

17 My wife does not like the smell of my breath.

My brothers will not come near me.

18 Even little boys think that I am a fool.

When I appear, they turn away from me.

19 My best friends hate me.

People that I have loved do not want to be my friends.

20 My body is nothing more than skin and bones.

I could easily have died.

21 Be kind to me, my friends.

Be kind because God has been cruel to me.

22 God looks for me as a hunter looks for an animal.

I want to know why you do the same thing.

23 I want someone to write down the words that I speak.

I want him to write my words on a scroll.

24 I want him to write them on a stone with an iron tool.

I want people to be able to read them always.

25 I know that my Redeemer lives.

I know that, in the end, he will stand upon the earth. ^{▼▼19:25 A ‘redeemer’ is someone who pays another person’s debts. Job uses it here as a name for God. In the New Testament, we read that Jesus ‘paid our debts.’ In other words, he paid the price for all the wrong things that we have done.}

26 One day I will die and people will bury me in the ground.

But in this, my body, I will see God.

27 I will see him with my own eyes.

I really want that to happen soon.

28 You say that I have caused my own troubles.

And because of that, you cause me to have even more trouble.

29 But you should be afraid of what may happen to you.

God will decide if you have done good things or bad things.

He may decide that you have done bad things.

And then he may punish you.’