Job 6
1 And Job answered and said,
Then Job spoke again, saying [to Eliphaz],
2 Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!
“If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words are vehement.
they would be heavier than all the sands [on the shores] of the oceans. That is why I spoke (very rashly/without thinking clearly) [about the day that I was born].
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, their poison drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
[It is as though] Almighty [God] has shot me with arrows. [It is as though] those arrows had poison on their tips, and that poison has gone into my spirit. The things that God has done to me have terrified me.
5 Doth the wild ass bray by the grass? loweth an ox over his fodder?
Just like a wild donkey does not [complain by] braying when it has plenty of grass to eat, and an ox does not [complain by] bellowing when it has food to eat [MET], [I would not complain if you were really helping/comforting me].
6 Shall that which is insipid be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg?
People complain [RHQ] when they must eat food which has no salt or other tasteless food [MET], [and that is what your words are like, Eliphaz].
7 What my soul refuseth to touch, that is as my loathsome food.
Just like I do not want to eat food [like that], and I loathe/detests that kind of food [MET], [I do not appreciate what you have said to me].
8 Oh that I might have my request, and that God would grant my desire!
“I wish that God would do for me what I have requested from him [DOU].
9 And that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
I wish that he would crush me [and let me die]. I wish that he would reach out his hand and take away my life.
10 Then should I yet have comfort; and in the pain which spareth not I would rejoice that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
If he would do that, I would be comforted by knowing that in spite of the great pain that I have suffered, I have always obeyed what [God, ] the Holy One, has commanded.
11 What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should have patience?
But now I do not have [RHQ] enough strength to endure all these things. And since I have nothing [to hope for] in (the future/this life), it is difficult for me to be patient now [RHQ].
12 Is my strength the strength of stones? is my flesh of brass?
I am not [RHQ] strong like rocks are, and my body is not made of bronze.
13 Is it not that there is no help in me, and soundness is driven away from me?
So I am not able to help myself, and [it seems that] there is no one to rescue me.”
14 For him that is fainting kindness [is meet] from his friend; or he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
“When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him, even if he stops revering Almighty [God].
15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a stream, as the channel of streams which pass away,
But [you, ] my friends, are not dependable. You are like streams: They spill over their banks [in the spring]
16 Which are turbid by reason of the ice, in which the snow hideth itself:
when [the melting] ice and snow make those streams overflow,
17 At the time they diminish, they are dried up; when heat affecteth them, they vanish from their place:
but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing [in those streams], and the channels dry up.
18 They wind about in the paths of their course, they go off into the waste and perish.
[The caravans of merchants] turn off the path [to search for some water], but there is no water, so they die [in the desert].
19 The caravans of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba counted on them:
The men in those caravans search [for some water] because they are sure that they will find some.
20 They are ashamed at their hope; they come thither, and are confounded.
But they do not find any, so they are very disappointed.
21 So now ye are nothing; ye see a terrible object and are afraid.
Similarly, you friends have not helped me at all! You have seen that terrible things have happened to me, and you are afraid [that God might do similar things to you].
22 Did I say, Bring unto me, and make me a present from your substance?
[After I lost all my wealth, ] did I ask any of you for money? [RHQ] Did I plead with any of you to spend some of your money to help me [RHQ]?
23 Or, rescue me from the hand of the oppressor, and redeem me from the hand of the violent?
Have I asked any of you to rescue me from my enemies [RHQ]? Have I asked you to save me from those who (oppressed me/treated me badly) [RHQ]? [No!]”
24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
“Answer me [now, and then] I will be quiet; tell me what wrong things I have done!
25 How forcible are right words! but what doth your upbraiding reprove?
When people speak what is true, that will not hurt the person who hears it, but what you say, criticizing me, [is not true, so your saying it] proves nothing [RHQ]!
26 Do ye imagine to reprove words? The speeches of one that is desperate are indeed for the wind.
I am a man who has nothing to hope for, but you try to correct me, and you think what I say is nothing but wind [RHQ]!
27 Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and dig [a pit] for your friend.
You do not sympathize with me at all [for all that I am suffering]. [You are heartless!] You would even gamble to see who gets an orphan [as a prize]!
28 Now therefore if ye will, look upon me; and it shall be to your face if I lie.
Please look at me! I will not [RHQ] lie to you.
29 Return, I pray you, let there be no wrong; yea, return again, my righteousness shall be in it.
Stop [saying that I have sinned, and] stop criticizing me unjustly! You should realize that I have not done things that are wrong.
30 Is there wrong in my tongue? cannot my taste discern mischievous things?
Do you think that I am lying? No, I am not lying, because I know what is right and what is wrong [RHQ].”
