Job   

Chapter

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