Job 6

Job

6Then Job replied:

²“If only my anguish could be weighed

and all my misery be placed on the scales!^p

³It would surely outweigh the sand^q of the seas—

no wonder my words have been impetuous.^r

⁴The arrows^s of the Almighty^t are in me,^u

my spirit drinks^v in their poison;^w

God’s terrors^x are marshaled against me.^y

⁵Does a wild donkey^z bray^a when it has grass,

or an ox bellow when it has fodder?^b

⁶Is tasteless food eaten without salt,

or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow^a?^c

⁷I refuse to touch it;

such food makes me ill.^d

⁸“Oh, that I might have my request,

that God would grant what I hope for,^e

⁹that God would be willing to crush^f me,

to let loose his hand and cut off my life!^g

¹⁰Then I would still have this consolation^h—

my joy in unrelenting painⁱ—

that I had not denied the words^j of the Holy One.^k

¹¹“What strength do I have, that I should still hope?

What prospects, that I should be patient?^l

¹²Do I have the strength of stone?

Is my flesh bronze?^m

¹³Do I have any power to help myself,ⁿ

now that success has been driven from me?

¹⁴“Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend^o

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.^p

¹⁵But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,^q

as the streams that overflow

¹⁶when darkened by thawing ice

and swollen with melting snow,^r

¹⁷but that stop flowing in the dry season,

and in the heat^s vanish from their channels.

¹⁸Caravans turn aside from their routes;

they go off into the wasteland and perish.

¹⁹The caravans of Tema^t look for water,

the traveling merchants of Sheba^u look in hope.

²⁰They are distressed, because they had been confident;

they arrive there, only to be disappointed.^v

²¹Now you too have proved to be of no help;

you see something dreadful and are afraid.^w

²²Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf,

pay a ransom^x for me from your wealth,^y

²³deliver me from the hand of the enemy,

rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?^z

²⁴“Teach me, and I will be quiet;^a

show me where I have been wrong.^b

²⁵How painful are honest words!^c

But what do your arguments prove?

²⁶Do you mean to correct what I say,

and treat my desperate words as wind?^d

²⁷You would even cast lots^e for the fatherless^f

and barter away your friend.

²⁸“But now be so kind as to look at me.

Would I lie to your face?^g

²⁹Relent, do not be unjust;^h

reconsider, for my integrityⁱ is at stake.^bj

³⁰Is there any wickedness on my lips?^k

Can my mouth not discern^l malice?