Job 6 / 42
- 1Then Job replied:
- 2"If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!
- 3It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas- no wonder my words have been impetuous.
- 4The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me.
- 5Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
- 6Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg ?
- 7I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.
- 8"Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for,
- 9that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!
- 10Then I would still have this consolation- my joy in unrelenting pain- that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.
- 11"What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?
- 12Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?
- 13Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?
- 14"A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
- 15But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow
- 16when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,
- 17but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.
- 18Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish.
- 19The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
- 20They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
- 21Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.
- 22Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
- 23deliver me from the hand of the enemy, ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless'?
- 24"Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.
- 25How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?
- 26Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?
- 27You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.
- 28"But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face?
- 29Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.
- 30Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?