Job 6

Chapter 6

Job’s Friends Are No Help

¹Then Job ¹answered,

²“^aOh that my grief were actually weighed

And laid in the balances together with my calamity!

³“For then it would be ^aheavier than the sand of the seas;

Therefore my words have been rash.

⁴“For the ^aarrows of the Almighty are within me,

¹Their ^bpoison my spirit drinks;

The ^cterrors of God are arrayed against me.

⁵“Does the ^awild donkey bray over his grass,

Or does the ox low over his fodder?

⁶“Can something tasteless be eaten without salt,

Or is there any taste in the ¹white of an egg?

⁷“My soul ^arefuses to touch them;

They are like loathsome food to me.

⁸“Oh that my request might come to pass,

And that God would grant my longing!

⁹“Would that God were ^awilling to crush me,

That He would loose His hand and cut me off!

¹⁰“But it is still my consolation,

And I rejoice in unsparing pain,

That I ^ahave not ¹denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹“What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should ^1aendure?

¹²“Is my strength the strength of stones,

Or is my flesh bronze?

¹³“Is it that my ^ahelp is not within me,

And that ^1bdeliverance is driven from me?

¹⁴“For the ^adespairing man there should be kindness from his friend;

So that he does not ^bforsake the ¹fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵“My brothers have acted ^adeceitfully like a ¹wadi,

Like the torrents of wadis which vanish,

¹⁶Which are turbid because of ice

And into which the snow ¹melts.

¹⁷“When ^athey become waterless, they ¹are silent,

When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

¹⁸“The ¹paths of their course wind along,

They go up into nothing and perish.

¹⁹“The caravans of ^aTema looked,

The travelers of ^bSheba hoped for them.

²⁰“They ^awere ¹disappointed for they had trusted,

They came there and were confounded.

²¹“Indeed, you have now become such,

^aYou see a terror and are afraid.

²²“Have I said, ‘Give me something,’

Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’

²³Or, ‘Deliver me from the hand of the adversary,’

Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants’?

²⁴“Teach me, and ^aI will be silent;

And show me how I have erred.

²⁵“How painful are honest words!

But what does your argument prove?

²⁶“Do you intend to reprove my words,

When the ^awords of one in despair belong to the wind?

²⁷“You would even ^acast lots for ^bthe orphans

And ^cbarter over your friend.

²⁸“Now please look at me,

And see if I ^alie to your face.

²⁹“Desist now, let there be no injustice;

Even desist, ^amy righteousness is yet in it.

³⁰“Is there injustice on my tongue?

Cannot ^amy palate discern ¹calamities?