Job

6 Then Job replied:

2 “If only my anguish could be weighed

and all my misery be placed on the scales!p

3 It would surely outweigh the sandq of the seas—

no wonder my words have been impetuous.r

4 The arrowss of the Almightyt are in me,u

my spirit drinksv in their poison;w

God’s terrorsx are marshaled against me.y

5 Does a wild donkeyz braya when it has grass,

or an ox bellow when it has fodder?b

6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt,

or is there flavor in the sap of the mallowa?c

7 I 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

9 that God would be willing to crushf me,

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

10 Then I would still have this consolationh—

my joy in unrelenting paini—

that I had not denied the wordsj of the Holy One.k

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

What prospects, that I should be patient?l

12 Do I have the strength of stone?

Is my flesh bronze?m

13 Do I have any power to help myself,n

now that success has been driven from me?

14 “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friendo

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.p

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

as the streams that overflow

16 when darkened by thawing ice

and swollen with melting snow,r

17 but that stop flowing in the dry season,

and in the heats vanish from their channels.

18 Caravans turn aside from their routes;

they go off into the wasteland and perish.

19 The caravans of Temat look for water,

the traveling merchants of Shebau look in hope.

20 They are distressed, because they had been confident;

they arrive there, only to be disappointed.v

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

you see something dreadful and are afraid.w

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

pay a ransomx for me from your wealth,y

23 deliver 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

25 How painful are honest words!c

But what do your arguments prove?

26 Do you mean to correct what I say,

and treat my desperate words as wind?d

27 You would even cast lotse for the fatherlessf

and barter away your friend.

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

Would I lie to your face?g

29 Relent, do not be unjust;h

reconsider, for my integrityi is at stake.b j

30 Is there any wickedness on my lips?k

Can my mouth not discernl malice?