Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

6 Thena Job answered and said,

2 “If only my vexation could be well weighed,

and my calamity could be lifted up together with it in the balances,

3 for then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;

therefore my words have been rash,

4 for the arrows of Shaddai are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

5 Does the wild ass bray over grass,

or the ox bellow over its fodder?

6 Can tasteless food be eaten withoutb salt,

or is there taste in the white of a marshmallow plant?

7 ⌊I refused⌋c to touch them;

they are like ⌊food that will make me ill⌋.d

8 “⌊O that⌋e my request may come,

and that God may grant my hope,

9 thatf God would decide thatg he would crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and ⌊kill me⌋.h

10 Buti it will still be my consolation,

and I would recoil in ⌊unrelenting⌋j pain,

for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

11 What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that ⌊I should hold out⌋?k

12 Or is my strength like the strength of stones?

Or is my flesh bronze?

13 ⌊Indeed⌋,l my help is not in me,

and any success is driven from me.

14 “Loyal lovem should come for the afflicted from his friend,

even ifn he forsakes the fear of Shaddai.

15 My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed;

like a streambed of wadiso they flow away,

16 which are growing dark because of ice upon them,

it will pile up snow.

17 In time they dry up, they disappear;

when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

18 The paths of their way wind around;

they go up into the wasteland, and they perish.

19 The caravans of Tema looked;

the traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.

20 They are disappointed, because they trusted;

they came ⌊here⌋p and they are confounded.

21 “For now youq have become ⌊such⌋;r

you see terrors, and you fear.

22 Is it because I have said, ‘Give to me,’

or,s ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?

23 or,t ‘Save me from the foe’s hand,’

or,u ‘Ransom me from the tyrants’ hand’?

24 Teach me, and I myselfv will be silent;

and make me understand how I have gone astray.

25 How painful are ⌊upright words⌋!w

Butx what does ⌊your reproof⌋y reprove?

26 Do you intend to reprove my wordsz

and consider the words of a desperate man as wind?

27 Even over the orphan you would cast the lot,

and you would bargain over your friend.

28 “⌊Therefore⌋a be prepared, turn to me,

and I surely will not lie to your face.b

29 Please turn, let no injustice happen;

indeed,c turn, ⌊my righteousness is still intact⌋.d

30 Is there injustice on my tongue?

Or can my palate not discern calamity?e

Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

7 “Does not ⌊a human beinga have hard service⌋b on earth?

And are not hisc days like the days of a laborer?

2 Like a slave he longs for the shadow,

and like a laborer he waits for his wages.

3 So ⌊I had to inherit⌋d months of worthlessness,

and nights of misery are apportioned to me.

4 When I lie down, I say,e ‘When shall I rise?’

Butf the night is long,

and I have my fill of tossing until dawn.

5 My body is clothed with maggots and clods of dust;

my skin hardens, theng it gives way again.

6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

and they come to an end ⌊without hope⌋.h

7 Remember that my life is a breath;

my eye will not return to see good.

8 The eye of the one seeing me will not see me;

your eyes are upon me, buti ⌊I will be gone⌋.j

9 A cloud vanishes, and it goes away,

so he who goes down to Sheol will not come up.

10 He does not return again to his house,

and his place does not recognize him again.

11 “Evenk I will not restrain my mouth;

I will speak in my spirit’s anguish;

I will complain in my inner self’sl bitterness.

12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster,

that you set a guard over me?

13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,

and my couchm will ease my complaint,’

14 thenn you terrify me with dreams,o

and with visions you terrifyp me.

15 Soq my inner selfr will chooses strangling—

death more than my ⌊existence⌋.t

16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever;

depart from me, for my days are a breath.

17 “What is a human being that you make him great

and that ⌊you fix your mind on him⌋,u

18 so thatv you visit him ⌊every morning⌋,w

you test him ⌊every moment⌋?x

19 ⌊How long⌋y will you not turn away from me?

Or not leave me alone until I swallowz my spit?

20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, watcher of humanity?

Why have you made me as a target for yourself,

so thata I have become a burden to myself?b

21 And why do you not pardon my transgression

and take away my guilt?

For now I shall lie in the dust,

and you will seek me, butc ⌊I will be no more⌋.”d