Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

Job 19:21

"Pity me, my friends, pity me, because God is against me.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Blasphemy;   Friendship;   Thompson Chain Reference - Divine;   God;   God's;   Hand, Divine;   Job;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Greatness of God;   Hypocrisy;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;   Mercy, Merciful;   Pity;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Leper;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Job, Book of;   Pity;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy,for God’s hand has struck me.
Hebrew Names Version
"Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; For the hand of God has touched me.
King James Version
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
English Standard Version
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!
New Century Version
Pity me, my friends, pity me, because the hand of God has hit me.
New English Translation
Have pity on me, my friends, have pity on me, for the hand of God has struck me.
Amplified Bible
"Have pity on me! Have pity on me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has touched me.
New American Standard Bible
"Pity me, pity me, you friends of mine, For the hand of God has struck me.
World English Bible
"Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; For the hand of God has touched me.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Haue pitie vpon me: haue pitie vpon me, (O yee my friendes) for the hande of God hath touched me.
Legacy Standard Bible
Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,For the hand of God has smitten me.
Berean Standard Bible
Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
Contemporary English Version
My friends, I beg you for pity! God has made me his target.
Complete Jewish Bible
"Pity me, friends of mine, pity me! For the hand of God has struck me!
Darby Translation
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, ye my friends; for the hand of +God hath touched me.
George Lamsa Translation
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O you my friends; for the hand of God has been against me.
Good News Translation
You are my friends! Take pity on me! The hand of God has struck me down.
Lexham English Bible
"Pity me, pity me, you my friends, for God's hand has touched me.
Literal Translation
Pity me! Pity me, you my friends! For the hand of God has touched me.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Haue pite vpon me, haue pite vpon me (o ye my frendes) for the hande of the LORDE hath touched me.
American Standard Version
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.
Bible in Basic English
Have pity on me, have pity on me, O my friends! for the hand of God is on me.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
King James Version (1611)
Haue pity vpon me, haue pitie vpon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Haue pitie vpon me, haue pitie vpon me, O ye my friendes, for the hande of God hath touched me.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Pity me, pity me, O friends; for it is the hand of the Lord that has touched me.
English Revised Version
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Haue ye merci on me, haue ye merci on me, nameli, ye my frendis; for the hond of the Lord hath touchid me.
Update Bible Version
Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends; For the hand of God has touched me.
Webster's Bible Translation
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
New King James Version
"Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me!
New Living Translation
"Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for the hand of God has struck me.
New Life Bible
Have pity on me. Have pity on me, O you my friends. For the hand of God has hit me.
New Revised Standard
Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Pity me! pity me! ye, my friends, for, the hand of GOD, hath stricken me!
Douay-Rheims Bible
Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me.
Revised Standard Version
Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!
Young's Literal Translation
Pity me, pity me, ye my friends, For the hand of God hath stricken against me.
THE MESSAGE
"Oh, friends, dear friends, take pity on me. God has come down hard on me! Do you have to be hard on me, too? Don't you ever tire of abusing me?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me.

Contextual Overview

8 God has blocked my way to keep me from getting through. He has hidden my path in darkness. 9 He took away my honor. He took the crown from my head. 10 He hits me on every side until I am worn out. He takes away my hope. It is like a tree pulled up by the roots. 11 His anger burns against me. He treats me like an enemy. 12 He sends his army to attack me. They build attack towers around me. They camp around my tent. 13 "God has made my brothers hate me. Those who knew me have become strangers. 14 My relatives have left me. My friends have forgotten me. 15 My servant girls and visitors in my home look at me as if I am a stranger and a foreigner. 16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer. Even if I beg for help, he will not answer. 17 My wife hates the smell of my breath. My own brothers hate me.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

have pity: Job 6:14, Romans 12:15, 1 Corinthians 12:26, Hebrews 13:3

the hand: Job 1:11, Job 2:5, Job 2:10, Job 6:4, Psalms 38:2

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:3 - touch Ruth 1:13 - the hand Ruth 2:9 - touch thee Job 2:11 - friends Job 4:5 - it toucheth Job 6:9 - that he would Job 21:5 - be astonished Job 32:13 - God Psalms 6:2 - my Psalms 69:20 - comforters Psalms 69:26 - For Psalms 109:16 - persecuted Ecclesiastes 4:1 - they had Jeremiah 15:5 - For who Lamentations 3:1 - the man Acts 13:11 - hand

Cross-References

Genesis 4:7
You know that if you do what is right, I will accept you. But if you don't, sin is ready to attack you. That sin will want to control you, but you must control it."
Genesis 12:2
I will build a great nation from you. I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people.
Genesis 18:24
What if there are fifty good people in that city? Will you still destroy it? Surely you will save the city for the fifty good people living there.
Genesis 19:8
Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man before. I will give my daughters to you. You can do anything you want with them. But please don't do anything to these men. They have come to my house, and I must protect them."
Genesis 19:9
The men surrounding the house answered, "Get out of our way!" They said to themselves, "This man Lot came to our city as a visitor. Now he wants to tell us how we should live!" Then the men said to Lot, "We will do worse things to you than to them." So the men started moving closer and closer to Lot. They were about to break down the door.
Genesis 19:15
The next morning at dawn, the angels were trying to make Lot hurry. They said, "This city will be punished, so take your wife and your two daughters who are still with you and leave this place. Then you will not be destroyed with the city."
Genesis 19:16
When Lot did not move fast enough, the two men grabbed his hand. They also took the hands of his wife and his two daughters. The two men led Lot and his family safely out of the city. The Lord was kind to Lot and his family.
Psalms 34:15
The Lord watches over those who do what is right, and he hears their prayers.
Psalms 102:17
He will listen to the prayers of those in poverty. He will not ignore them.
Psalms 145:19
He listens to his followers and does what they want. He answers their prayers and saves them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Have pity upon me, have pity upon me,.... Instead of calumny and censure, his case called for compassion; and the phrase is doubled, to denote the vehemence of his affliction, the ardency of his soul, the anguish of his spirits, the great distress he was in, and the earnest desire he had to have pity shown him; and in which he may be thought not only to make a request to his friends for it, but to give them a reproof for want of it:

O ye my friends; as they once showed themselves to be, and now professed they were; and since they did, pity might be reasonably expected from them; for even common humanity, and much more friendship, required it of them, that they should be pitiful and courteous, and put on bowels of mercy and kindness, and commiserate his sad estate, and give him all the succour, relief, and comfort they could, see Job 6:14;

for the hand of God has touched me; his afflicting hand, which is a mighty one; it lay hard and heavy upon him, and pressed him sore; for though it was but a touch of his hand, it was more than he could well bear; for it was the touch of the Almighty, who "toucheth the hills, and they smoke", Psalms 104:32; and if he lays his hand ever so lightly on houses of clay, which have their foundation in the dust, they cannot support under the weight of it, since they are crushed before the moth, or as easily as a moth is crushed.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Have pity on me - A tender, pathetic cry for sympathy. “God has afflicted me, and stripped me of all my comforts, and I am left a poor, distressed, forsaken man. I make my appeal to you, my friends, and entreat you to have pity; to sympathize with me, and to sustain me by the words of consolation.” One would have supposed that these words would have gone to the heart, and that we should hear no more of their bitter reproofs. But far otherwise was the fact.

The hand of God hath touched me - Hath smitten me; or is heavy upon me. The meaning is, that he had been subjected to great calamities by God, and that it was right to appeal now to his friends, and to expect their sympathy and compassion. On the usual meaning of the word here rendered, “hath touched” (נגעה nâga‛âh from נגע nâga‛ ), see the notes at Isaiah 53:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 19:21. Have pity upon me — The iteration here strongly indicates the depth of his distress, and that his spirit was worn down with the length and severity of his suffering.


 
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