וַיַּעַן אִיּוֹב וַיֹּאמַר׃

Job answered and said:

עַד־אָנָה תּוֹגְיוּן נַפְשִׁי וּתְדַכּאוּנַּנִי בְמִלִּים

How long will you aggrieve my soul and oppress me with words?

זֶה עֶשֶׂר פְּעָמִים תַּכְלִימוּנִי לֹא־תֵבֹשׁוּ תַּהְכְּרוּ לִי

These ten times, numerous occasions, you have humiliated and insulted me, either explicitly or by intimation; you are not ashamed to estrange yourselves from me.

וְאַף־אָמְנָם שָׁגִיתִי אִתִּי תָּלִין מְשׁוּגָתִי

If indeed I erred, with me my error rests. Any errors I may have committed have not harmed those around me or the world in general, and therefore I do not deserve such a severe punishment.

אִם־אָמְנָם עָלַי תַּגְדִּילוּ וְתוֹכִיחוּ עָלַי חֶרְפָּתִי

If indeed you will overload against me, and rebuke me with my disgrace, if you continue to argue that I have sinned greatly,

דְּעוּ־אֵפוֹ כִּי אֱלוֹהַּ עִוְּתָנִי וּמְצוּדוֹ עָלַי הִקִּיף

because you consider me exceedingly wicked and you judge me by my misfortunes, you should know then that I am not guilty, but rather God has sabotaged me, and He has surrounded me with His trap.

הֵן אֶצְעַק חָמָס וְלֹא אֵעָנֶה אֲשַׁוַּע וְאֵין מִשְׁפָּט

Behold, I call: Villainy, but I am not answered; I plead, but there is no justice.

אָרְחִי גָדַר וְלֹא אֶעֱבוֹר וְעַל־נְתִיבוֹתַי חֹשֶׁךְ יָשִׂים

He has fenced my path and I cannot pass, and He places darkness on my paths, so that I cannot continue.

כְּבוֹדִי מֵעָלַי הִפְשִׁיט וַיָּסַר עֲטֶרֶת רֹאשִׁי

He has stripped me of my honor, my former stature, and removed the crown from my head.

יִתְּצֵנִי סָבִיב וָאֵלַךְ וַיַּסַּע כּעֵץ תִּקְוָתִי

He, God, smashes me all around, and I go. I will soon die because I cannot bear any more pain. He has transplanted my hope like an uprooted tree.

וַיַּחַר עָלַי אַפּוֹ וַיַּחְשְׁבֵנִי לוֹ כְצָרָיו

He has enflamed His wrath against me, and He considers me as one of His adversaries.

יַחַד יָבֹאוּ גְדוּדָיו וַיָּסֹלּוּ עָלַי דַּרְכָּם וַיַּחֲנוּ סָבִיב לְאָהֳלִי

His troops, the tragedies that have befallen me, come to attack me together. It is difficult for me to view the series of catastrophes that have befallen me with such frequency as anything other than a coordinated and deliberate attack. They beat a path against me, crushing me beneath them, and they encamp around my tent.

אַחַי מֵעָלַי הִרְחִיק וְיֹדְעַי אַךְ־זָרוּ מִמֶּנִּי

He has distanced my brethren from me, and my acquaintances have become estranged from me, or they act cruelly toward me. Not only am I destitute, but my skin disease keeps people at bay.

חָדְלוּ קְרוֹבָי וּמְיֻדָּעַי שְׁכֵחוּנִי

My relatives have departed, or disappeared, and my acquaintances have forgotten me.

גָּרֵי בֵיתִי וְאַמְהֹתַי לְזָר תַּחְשְׁבֻנִי נָכְרִי הָיִיתִי בְעֵינֵיהֶם

The residents of my house and my maidservants consider me a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes.

לְעַבְדִּי קָרָאתִי וְלֹא יַעֲנֶה בְּמוֹ־פִי אֶתְחַנֶּן־לוֹ

I called for my servant, but he would not answer me, as I no longer have any authority. He does not obey me and even ignores my calls, though I plead with him with my own mouth.

רוּחִי זָרָה לְאִשְׁתִּי וְחַנֹּתִי לבְנֵי בִטְנִי

My spirit, my soul, is estranged even from my wife, and my pleas, from the children of my belly. My entreaties are foreign even to those I raised in my home as though they were my own children.

גַּם־עֲוִילִים מָאֲסוּ בִי אָקוּמָה וַיְדַבְּרוּ־בִי

Even delinquents, a mob of youths, have despised me; I arise and they speak against me with derision.

תִּעֲבוּנִי כָּל מְתֵי סוֹדִי וְזֶה אָהַבְתִּי נֶהְפְּכוּ־בִי

All my former confidants abhor me and those I loved have turned against me and have become my enemies.

בְּעוֹרִי וּבִבְשָׂרִי דָּבְקָה עַצְמִי וָאֶתְמַלְּטָה בְּעוֹר שִׁנָּי

As for my body, my bones stick to my skin and to my flesh; I have become physically weak and shriveled. I have lost everything I had, and I escaped by the skin of my teeth. After all the tragedies that have befallen me I am left with nothing, and even my skin is badly afflicted; only the skin around my teeth remains intact.

חָנֻּנִי חָנֻּנִי אַתֶּם רֵעָי כִּי יַד־אֱלוֹהַּ נָגְעָה בִּי

Pity me, pity me, as you are my friends; for I have not done anything wrong, but the hand of God has touched, harmed, me.

לָמָּה תִּרְדְּפֻנִי כְמוֹ־אֵל וּמִבְּשָׂרִי לֹא תִשְׂבָּעוּ

Why do you pursue me like God oppresses me? You see that I am suffering, and yet you only add to my anguish and are not sated with my flesh. You continue to hound me in one way or another, and you are still not satisfied.

מִי־יִתֵּן אֵפוֹ וְיִכָּתְבוּן מִלָּי מִי־יִתֵּן בַּסֵּפֶר וְיֻחָקוּ

If only my words were indeed written; if only they were in a scroll and inscribed, engraved for all time,

בְּעֵט־בַּרְזֶל וְעֹפָרֶת לָעַד בַּצּוּר יֵחָצְבוּן

with an iron pen or with lead, from which molds can be cast, that they be etched in the rock forever. If only my words would be recorded and remembered eternally.

ואֲנִי יָדַעְתִּי גֹּאֲלִי חָי ואַחֲרוֹן עַל־עָפָר יָקוּם

But I, although I protest the injustice that God has done to me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand last on the dust. After all else has ceased to exist, God alone will remain.

וְאַחַר עוֹרִי נִקְּפוּ זֹאת וּמִבְּשָׂרִי אֶחֱזֶה אֱלוֹהַּ

After my skin has been destroyed, this bone was struck as well, and from my flesh, directly, without any intermediary, I will view God.

אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי אֶחֱזֶה־לִּי וְעֵינַי רָאוּ וְלֹא־זָר כָּלוּ כִלְיֹתַי בְּחֵקִי

What I view for myself, seeing God through my pain, my eyes will see, not those of a stranger. You cannot stand in my shoes, cannot perceive what God is showing to me through my own suffering. Therefore your explanations of my experiences will inevitably fail. Only I can understand how my kidneys are lost within me, that I have suffered internal injuries.

כִּי תֹאמְרוּ מַה־נִּרְדָּף־לוֹ ושֹׁרֶשׁ דּבָר נִמְצָא־בִי

If you say: For what is he persecuted, and isn’t the root of the matter found in me? Some read the verse as follows: If only you would say with compassion: Why is he persecuted, and what is the root cause of sin within him? But it did not occur to you to think this way.

גּוּרוּ לָכֶם מִפְּנֵי־חֶרֶב כִּי־חֵמָה עֲוֹנוֹת חָרֶב לְמַעַן תֵּדְעוּן שַׁדּוּן

Beware of the sword, which will eventually exact vengeance upon you. Since you are abandoning me due to theological assumptions rather than a genuine understanding of the situation, I know you will be punished. For divine fury by the sword will be for severe iniquity, so that you will know that there is judgment [shadun]. Shadun can also be interpreted with the connotation of robbery, and therefore these words would read: So that you will eventually be robbed [shod]. Alternatively, based on the Aramaic word shadi, the verse says: So that you will be cast off. Possibly, Job is saying: You will be made to understand robbery and affliction so that in the future you will have compassion for the downtrodden.