1 Então, respondeu Jó:
2 Até quando afligireis a minha alma
e me quebrantareis com palavras?
3 Já dez vezes me vituperastes
e não vos envergonhais de injuriar-me.
4 Embora haja eu, na verdade, errado,
comigo ficará o meu erro.
5 Se quereis engrandecer-vos contra mim
e me arguis pelo meu opróbrio,
6 sabei agora que Deus é que me oprimiu
e com a sua rede me cercou.
7 Eis que clamo: violência! Mas não sou ouvido;
grito: socorro! Porém não há justiça.
8 O meu caminho ele fechou, e não posso passar;
e nas minhas veredas pôs trevas.
9 Da minha honra me despojou
e tirou-me da cabeça a coroa.
10 Arruinou-me de todos os lados, e eu me vou;
e arrancou-me a esperança, como a uma árvore.
11 Inflamou contra mim a sua ira
e me tem na conta de seu adversário.
12 Juntas vieram as suas tropas,
prepararam contra mim o seu caminho
e se acamparam ao redor da minha tenda.
13 Pôs longe de mim a meus irmãos,
e os que me conhecem, como estranhos, se apartaram de mim.
14 Os meus parentes me desampararam,
e os meus conhecidos se esqueceram de mim.
15 Os que se abrigam na minha casa
e as minhas servas me têm por estranho,
e vim a ser estrangeiro aos seus olhos.
16 Chamo o meu criado, e ele não me responde;
tenho de suplicar-lhe, eu mesmo.
17 O meu hálito é intolerável à minha mulher,
e pelo mau cheiro sou repugnante aos filhos de minha mãe.
18 Até as crianças me desprezam,
e, querendo eu levantar-me, zombam de mim.
19 Todos os meus amigos íntimos me abominam,
e até os que eu amava se tornaram contra mim.
20 Os meus ossos se apegam à minha pele e à minha carne,
e salvei-me só com a pele dos meus dentes.
21 Compadecei-vos de mim, amigos meus,
compadecei-vos de mim, porque a mão de Deus me atingiu.
22 Por que me perseguis como Deus me persegue
e não cessais de devorar a minha carne?
23 Quem me dera fossem agora escritas as minhas palavras!
Quem me dera fossem gravadas em livro!
24 Que, com pena de ferro e com chumbo,
para sempre fossem esculpidas na rocha!
25 Porque eu sei que o meu Redentor vive
e por fim se levantará sobre a terra.
26 Depois, revestido este meu corpo da minha pele,
em minha carne verei a Deus.
27 Vê-lo-ei por mim mesmo,
os meus olhos o verão, e não outros;
de saudade me desfalece o coração dentro de mim.
28 Se disserdes: Como o perseguiremos?
E: A causa deste mal se acha nele,
29 temei, pois, a espada,
porque tais acusações merecem o seu furor,
para saberdes que há um juízo.
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 How long will ye vex my soul,
And break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times have ye reproached me:
Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.
4 And be it indeed that I have erred,
Mine error remaineth with myself.
5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me,
And plead against me my reproach;
6 Know now that God hath subverted me in my cause,
And hath compassed me with his net.
7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard:
I cry for help, but there is no justice.
8 He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass,
And hath set darkness in my paths.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory,
And taken the crown from my head.
10 He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone;
And my hope hath he plucked up like a tree.
11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me,
And he counteth me unto him as one of his adversaries.
12 His troops come on together,
And cast up their way against me,
And encamp round about my tent.
13 He hath put my brethren far from me,
And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed,
And my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger:
I am an alien in their sight.
16 I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer,
Though I entreat him with my mouth.
17 My breath is strange to my wife,
And my supplication to the children of mine own mother.
18 Even young children despise me;
If I arise, they speak against me.
19 All my familiar friends abhor me,
And they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh,
And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends;
For the hand of God hath touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me as God,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 Oh that my words were now written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24 That with an iron pen and lead
They were graven in the rock for ever!
25 But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth,
And at last he will stand up upon the earth:
26 And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed,
Then without my flesh shall I see God;
27 Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side,
And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.
My heart is consumed within me.
28 If ye say, How we will persecute him!
And that the root of the matter is found in me;
29 Be ye afraid of the sword:
For wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword,
That ye may know there is a judgment.
1 Then Job replied:
2 "How long will you torment me and crush me with words?
3 Ten times now you have reproached me; shamelessly you attack me.
4 If it is true that I have gone astray, my error remains my concern alone.
5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me,
6 then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me.
7 "Though I cry, 'Violence!' I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness.
9 He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree.
11 His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies.
12 His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent.
13 "He has alienated my family from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away; my closest friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner; they look on me as on a stranger.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me.
19 All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth. [^1]
21 "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 "Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on "lead, or engraved in rock forever!
25 I know that my redeemer "lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. [^4]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet "in "my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him with my own eyes —I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
28 "If you say, 'How we will hound him, since the root of the trouble lies in him, "'
29 you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment. ""