18Even the little boys scorn me;

when I appear, they ridicule me.

19All my intimate friends detest me;

those I love have turned against me.

20I am nothing but skin and bones;

I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.^a

21“Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,

for the hand of God has struck me.

22Why 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,

24that they were inscribed with an iron tool on^b lead,

or engraved in rock forever!

25I know that my Redeemer^c lives,

and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.^d

26And after my skin has been destroyed,

yet^e in^f my flesh I will see God;

27I 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,^g’

29you should fear the sword yourselves;

for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,

and then you will know that there is judgment.^h”