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Easy-to-Read Version

Job 10:15

If I sin, I am guilty and should be cursed. But even when I am innocent, I cannot lift up my head. I am so ashamed because of all the troubles I have.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   God;   Humility;   Philosophy;   Wicked (People);  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Greatness of God;   Hypocrisy;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Job;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Lift;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Confusion;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
If I am wicked, woe to me!And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.I am filled with shameand have drunk deeply of my affliction.
Hebrew Names Version
If I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous, I still shall not lift up my head, Being filled with disgrace, And conscious of my affliction.
King James Version
If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
English Standard Version
If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction.
New Century Version
How terrible it will be for me if I am guilty! Even if I am right, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and experience only pain.
New English Translation
If I am guilty, woe to me, and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head; I am full of shame, and satiated with my affliction.
Amplified Bible
'If I am wicked, woe to me [for judgment comes]! And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. For I am sated and filled with disgrace and the sight of my misery.
New American Standard Bible
'If I am wicked, woe to me! But if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am full of shame, and conscious of my misery.
World English Bible
If I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous, I still shall not lift up my head, Being filled with disgrace, And conscious of my affliction.
Geneva Bible (1587)
If I haue done wickedly, wo vnto me: if I haue done righteously, I will not lift vp mine head, being full of confusion, because I see mine affliction.
Legacy Standard Bible
If I am wicked, woe to me!And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.I am sated with disgrace—so see my misery!
Berean Standard Bible
If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.
Contemporary English Version
Guilty or innocent, I am condemned and ashamed because of my troubles.
Complete Jewish Bible
If I am wicked, woe to me! — but if righteous, I still don't dare raise my head, because I am so filled with shame, so soaked in my misery.
Darby Translation
If I were wicked, woe unto me! and righteous, I will not lift up my head, being [so] full of shame, and beholding mine affliction;—
George Lamsa Translation
If I be wicked, woe is me! and if I be righteous, still I cannot lift up my head. I have enough of reproach; I have seen my affliction.
Good News Translation
As soon as I sin, I'm in trouble with you, but when I do right, I get no credit. I am miserable and covered with shame.
Lexham English Bible
If I am guilty, woe to me! But if I am righteous, I dare not lift my head; I am filled with shame, and just look at my misery!
Literal Translation
If I am wrong, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I will not lift up my head, being filled with shame and seeing my pain.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf I do wickedly, wo is me therfore: Yf I be rightuous, yet darre I not lift vp my heade: so full am I of confucion, and se myne owne misery.
American Standard Version
If I be wicked, woe unto me; And if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head; Being filled with ignominy, And looking upon mine affliction.
Bible in Basic English
That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head--
King James Version (1611)
If I be wicked, woe vnto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift vp my head: I am full of confusion, therefore see thou mine affliction:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
If I haue done wickedly, wo is me therefore: If I haue done righteously, yet dare I not lift vp my head, so full am I of confusion, and see myne owne miserie.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Or if I should be ungodly, woe is me: and if I should be righteous, I cannot lift myself up, for I am full of dishonour.
English Revised Version
If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head; being filled with ignominy and looking upon mine affliction.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And if Y was wickid, wo is to me; and if Y was iust, Y fillid with turment and wretchidnesse `schal not reise the heed.
Update Bible Version
If I am wicked, woe to me; And if I am righteous, yet I shall not lift up my head, filled with shame and drunk with my affliction.
Webster's Bible Translation
If I be wicked, woe to me; and [if] I be righteous, [yet] will I not lift up my head. [I am] full of confusion; therefore see thou my affliction;
New King James Version
If I am wicked, woe to me; Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; See my misery!
New Living Translation
If I am guilty, too bad for me; and even if I'm innocent, I can't hold my head high, because I am filled with shame and misery.
New Life Bible
If I am sinful, it would be bad for me! If I am right and good, I cannot lift my head for I am filled with shame and see all my trouble.
New Revised Standard
If I am wicked, woe to me! If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look upon my affliction.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
If I have been lawless, alas for me! Or, if I am righteous, I will not lift up my head, Surfeited with shame, look thou then on my humiliation.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And if I be wicked, woe unto me: and if just, I shall not lift up my head, being filled with affliction and misery.
Revised Standard Version
If I am wicked, woe to me! If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look upon my affliction.
Young's Literal Translation
If I have done wickedly -- wo to me, And righteously -- I lift not up my head, Full of shame -- then see my affliction,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
'If I am wicked, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery.

Contextual Overview

14 If I sinned, you would be watching me so that you could punish me for doing wrong. 15 If I sin, I am guilty and should be cursed. But even when I am innocent, I cannot lift up my head. I am so ashamed because of all the troubles I have. 16 If I have any success and feel proud, you hunt me down like a lion and show your power over me. 17 You bring witness after witness to prove that I am wrong. Again and again you show your anger as you send army after army against me. 18 So why did you let me be born? I wish I had died before anyone saw me. 19 I wish I had never lived. I wish they had carried me from my mother's womb straight to the grave. 20 My life is almost finished. So leave me alone! Let me enjoy the little time I have left. 21 I am going soon to the land of no return, the place of death and darkness— 22 that land of darkest night, of shadows and confusion, where even the light is darkness.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

If I be wicked: Job 10:7, Job 9:29, Job 27:7, Psalms 9:17, Isaiah 3:11, Isaiah 6:5, Malachi 3:18, Romans 2:8, Romans 2:9

righteous: Job 9:12, Job 9:15, Job 9:20, Job 9:21, Isaiah 64:5, Isaiah 64:6, Luke 17:10

I am full: Job 21:6, Job 23:15

see: Exodus 3:7, Psalms 25:18, Psalms 119:153, Lamentations 1:20, Lamentations 5:1-22

Reciprocal: Job 7:11 - the bitterness Job 10:1 - I will speak Job 11:15 - lift up Job 19:7 - I cry Job 33:10 - he findeth Job 35:3 - what advantage Psalms 13:2 - take Proverbs 18:14 - but Philippians 3:9 - not

Cross-References

Genesis 10:2
Japheth's sons were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
Genesis 10:3
Gomer's sons were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
Genesis 10:8
Cush also had a son named Nimrod who became a very powerful man on earth.
Genesis 10:15
Canaan was the father of Sidon. Sidon was Canaan's first son. Canaan was also the father of the Hittites,
Genesis 10:18
Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. The families of Canaan spread to different parts of the world.
Genesis 10:20
All these people were descendants of Ham. They are arranged by families, languages, countries, and nations.
Genesis 10:21
Shem was Japheth's older brother. One of Shem's descendants was Eber, the father of all the Hebrew people.
Genesis 10:24
Arphaxad was the father of Shelah. Shelah was the father of Eber.
Genesis 23:3
Then he left his dead wife and went to talk to the Hittites. He said,
Genesis 49:13
"Zebulun will live near the sea. His seacoast will be a safe place for ships. His land will continue as far as the city of Sidon.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If I be wicked, woe is me,.... In this world, and to all eternity; afflictions will abide me here, and everlasting wrath hereafter: these are the woes that belong to a wicked man; that is, a profane and abandoned sinner, that lives in sin, and gives up himself to all manner of wickedness; the Targum is,

"destruction to me from the great judgment;''

utter ruin is my portion, as it is of all wicked and unrighteous persons, Isaiah 3:11;

and [if] I be righteous, [yet] will I not lift up my head; live a holy life and conversation, be righteous in the sight of men, and behave so as not to know anything by himself, nor to be conscious of living in any known sin; yet he could not take any comfort from it, or have any pleasure in it, or speak peace to himself on account of it, or glory in it and make his boast of it; or lift up his head before God with boldness and confidence, who is so pure and holy, and his eyes so quick in discerning the sins of men: a good man derives his peace and comfort, not from his own righteousness, but from the righteousness of Christ, and puts his confidence in that only; he blushes, and is ashamed of his own; and cannot, nay, "dare not lift up his head", as Mr. Broughton, the Tigurine version, and others render it, through shame, being sensible that nothing of his own can stand before an holy God, or give him joy, peace, and pleasure there; the Targum adds, "before the ungodly"; but this a man may do before men, when he cannot before God:

[I am] full of confusion; being in such a dilemma; let him be what he would, he was sure to have affliction, sorrow, and distress, so that he knew not what to say or do; or "reproach" z, which he was loaded with by his friends, and was occasioned by his afflictions, they judging from thence that he was a wicked man, and justly punished for his sins; the word used signifies a burning heat, such as a than feels in his breast, and which flushes in his face, when he is filled with anger or with shame:

therefore see thou mine affliction; not with his eye of omniscience, that he knew he did, but with an eye of pity and compassion, and deliver him from it; or, "I am full with seeing mine affliction", as Jarchi; or, "[I am one] that sees affliction" a; that has an experience of it; sees it all around me, and nothing else, Lamentations 3:1; am a "spectator" b of it, as some render it; but not a mere spectator, but one that has a sensible feeling of it: some take this and the former clause both to be an address to God, and render them, "be satisfied with confusion, and behold my affliction", as Broughton and others c; let the present calamity and confusion I am in be sufficient; let no more be laid upon me; be content with what has been done, and pity me, and do not lay thine hand heavier upon me, and add to my afflictions, as he thought he did, by what follows.

z קלוז "contumeliis", Tigurine version; "ignominia", Pagninus, Montanus, Beza, Vatablus, Mercerus, Piscator, Michaelis. a וראה עניי "et videns afflictionem", Beza, Vatablus, Mercerus, Piscator. b "Et spectator adflictionis meae", Schultens. c "Satiare ignominia", Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If I be wicked, woe unto me - The meaning of this in this connection is, “I am full of perplexity and sorrow. Whether I am wicked or righteous, I find no comfort. Whatever is my character, my efforts to be happy are unavailing, and my mind is full of anguish. Woe follows if I have been guilty of sin; and if I am not a sinful man, I am equally incapable of enjoyment. In every way I am doomed to wretchedness.” And if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. That is, with confidence and cheerfulness. The meaning is, that though he was conscious that he was not a hypocrite, yet he did not know what to do. God treated him as if he were wicked, and his friends regarded him as such, and he was overwhelmed with the perplexities of his situation. He could not lift up his head with confidence, though he was certain that he was not a sinner in the sense in which they charged him with being such; and yet since he was treated by God in a manner so similar to the mode in which the wicked are treated, he felt ashamed and confounded. Who has not felt the same thing? Who has not experienced a sense of shame and mortification at being sick, - a proof of guilt, and an expression of the hatred of God against sin? Who has not felt humbled that he must die, as the most vile of the race must die, and that his body must become the “prey of corruption” and “the banquet of worms,” as a demonstration of guilt? Such humiliation Job experienced. He was treated as if he were the vilest of sinners. He endured from God sufferings such as they endure. He was so regarded by his friends. He felt humbled and mortified that he was brought into this situation, and was ashamed that he could not meet the arguments of his friends.

I am full of confusion - Shame, ignominy, distress, and perplexity. On every side there was embarrassment, and he knew not what to do. His friends regarded him as vile, and he could not but admit that he was so treated by God.

Therefore see thou mine affliction - The word rendered here “see” (ראה râ'âh) in the imperative, Rosenmuller, Gesenius, and others suppose should be regarded as in the infinitive absolute, the finite verb being understood; “seeing I see my affliction,” that is, I certainly see it. So the Chaldee and the Syriac render it, and this agrees better with the connection of the passage. “I see the depth of my affliction. I cannot hide it from myself. I see, and must admit, that God treats me as if I were a sinner, and I am greatly perplexed and embarrassed by that fact. My mind is in confusion, and I know not what to say.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 10:15. If I be wicked — I must meet with that punishment that is due to the workers of iniquity.

If I be righteous — I am only in the state which my duty to my Creator requires me to be in; and I cannot therefore suppose that on this account I can deserve any thing by way of favour from the justice of my Maker.

I am full of confusion — I am confounded at my state and circumstances. I know that thou art merciful, and dost not afflict willingly the children of men; I know I have not wickedly departed from thee; and yet I am treated by thee as if I were an apostate from every good. I am therefore full of confusion. See thou to my affliction; and bring me out of it in such a way as shall at once prove my innocence, the righteousness of thy ways, and the mercy of thy nature.


 
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