1Job gav følgende svar:2„Hvor længe bliver I ved med at håne mig? Hvor længe vil I plage mig med jeres fornærmelser?3I anklager mig nu for tiende gang, mishandler mig uden barmhjertighed.4Hvis jeg har gjort noget forkert, så er det mit problem og ikke jeres.5I mener, at I er bedre end mig, og at mine lidelser er straf for min synd.6Forstår I ikke, at Gud gør mig uret ved at sende disse ulykker over mig?7Jeg råber om hjælp, men får intet svar. Jeg skriger højt, men ingen griber ind.8Gud har spærret vejen for mig, han har indhyllet mit liv i mørke.9Han har berøvet mig min ære, ødelagt mit gode omdømme.10Han angreb mig fra alle sider, så jeg faldt. Han har taget ethvert håb fra mig.11Hans vrede blussede op imod mig, han behandlede mig som en fjende.12Han sender en hær af ulykker imod mig, de omringer mit hus og falder over mig.13Mine slægtninge har slået hånden af mig, mine bekendte vil ikke kendes ved mig.14Min familie har vendt mig ryggen, mine nærmeste venner ignorerer mig.15Mine gæster ser på mig som en fremmed, mine tjenestepiger gør intet for mig.16Min tjener kommer ikke, når jeg kalder, ikke engang når jeg trygler ham om hjælp.17Min kone føler afsky ved min ånde, mine brødre kan ikke udholde stanken.18Selv børnene regner mig ikke for noget. Når jeg rejser mig op, håner de mig.19Mine bedste venner viser mig afsky, de, jeg holder mest af, har vendt mig ryggen.20Jeg er ikke andet end skind og ben, med nød og næppe undgik jeg døden.21Vis dog lidt barmhjertighed, venner! Hav medlidenhed, for Guds vrede har ramt mig.22Hvorfor vil I straffe mig, som Gud gør? Har jeg ikke lidt tilstrækkeligt allerede?23Ak, gid mine ord blev skrevet ned, gid nogen ville optegne dem i en bog.24Gid nogen ville mejsle dem i sten, indridse dem i en klippe for evigt.25Men jeg ved, at der er en, som vil befri mig, engang skal han stå frem på jorden.26Jeg ved, at selv om min krop går til grunde, får jeg mulighed for bagefter at se Gud.27Jeg skal se ham med mine egne øjne. Jeg kan næsten ikke rumme den tanke.28Hvor vover I da at anklage mig og påstå, at min lidelse er en velfortjent straf?29Pas på, at I ikke selv bliver straffet, bliver ramt af Guds vrede og dom.”
1Then Job answered and said:2“How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words?3These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me? (1.Mos 31,7)4And even if it be true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.5If indeed you magnify yourselves against me and make my disgrace an argument against me, (Salm 35,26; Salm 38,16; Salm 55,12)6know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me. (Job 8,3; Job 34,12; Klag 3,36)7Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice. (Job 24,12; Klag 3,8; Hab 1,2)8He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. (Job 3,23; Job 13,27; Klag 3,7; Klag 3,9; Hos 2,6)9He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head. (Job 29,14; Salm 89,39; Salm 89,44; Klag 5,16)10He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree. (Job 10,21; Job 14,20; Job 27,21)11He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary. (Job 13,24)12His troops come on together; they have cast up their siege ramp[1] against me and encamp around my tent. (Job 10,17; Job 25,2; Job 30,12)13“He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me. (Job 6,15; Salm 31,11; Salm 69,8; Salm 88,8; Salm 88,18)14My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me. (Salm 38,11; Salm 55,13)15The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes. (1.Mos 17,27; Matt 10,36)16I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.17My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother. (Job 2,9; Job 3,10)18Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me. (2.Kong 2,23)19All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. (Salm 41,9; Salm 55,13)20My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. (Salm 102,5; Klag 4,8)21Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me! (Job 1,11; Es 53,4)22Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh? (Salm 69,26)23“Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! (Es 30,8)24Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! (Jer 17,1)25For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.[2] (1.Mos 48,16; Job 30,23; Job 41,33; Salm 19,14; Salm 103,4; Es 43,14; Es 44,6; Es 44,24; Es 49,7; 1.Thess 1,10)26And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in[3] my flesh I shall see God, (Salm 17,15; 1.Kor 13,12; 1.Joh 3,2)27whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! (Salm 73,26; Ord 27,2)28If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’ and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’[4] (Job 19,22)29be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.” (Salm 58,11; Præd 12,14)