Job 6
1 Then Job responded:
And Job answers and says:
2 “If my grief could be weighed and my troubles placed on the scales
“O that my provocation were thoroughly weighed, And my calamity in balances They would lift up together!
3 they would be heavier than the sand of the sea. That's why I spoke so rashly.
For now it is heavier than the sands of the sea, Therefore my words have been rash.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; their poison saps my spirit. God's terrors are lined up against me.
For arrows of the Mighty [are] with me, Whose poison is drinking up my spirit. Terrors of God array themselves [for] me!
5 Don't wild donkeys bray when their grass is gone? Don't cattle groan when they don't have food!
Does a wild donkey bray over tender grass? Does an ox low over his provender?
6 Can something that's tasteless be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg?
Is an insipid thing eaten without salt? Is there sense in the drivel of dreams?
7 I just can't touch any food—even the thought makes me feel sick!
My soul is refusing to touch! They [are] as my sickening food.
8 Oh, if only I could have what I really want, that God would give me what I most desire—
O that my request may come, That God may grant my hope!
9 that God would be willing to crush me to death, that he would just let me die!
That God would please—and bruise me, Loose His hand and cut me off!
10 But it still comforts me to know, making me happy through the never-ending pain, that I have never rejected the words of God.
And yet it is my comfort (And I exult in pain—He does not spare), That I have not hidden The sayings of the Holy One.
11 Why should I go on waiting when I don't have the strength? Why should I keep going when I don't know what is going to happen to me?
What [is] my power that I should hope? And what [is] my end that I should prolong my life?
12 Am I as strong as rock? Am I made out of bronze?
Is my strength the strength of stones? Is my flesh bronze?
13 How can I help myself now that any chance of success is ripped away from me?
Is my help not with me, And substance driven from me?
14 Anyone who isn't kind to a friend has given up respecting the Almighty.
To a despiser of his friends [is] shame, And the fear of the Mighty he forsakes.
15 My brothers have acted as deceptively as a desert stream, rushing waters in the desert that vanish.
My brothers have deceived as a brook, As a stream of brooks they pass away.
16 The stream floods when it is full of dark ice and melting snow,
That are black because of ice, By them snow hides itself.
17 but in the heat it dries up and disappears, vanishing from where it once was.
By the time they are warm they have been cut off, By its being hot they have been Extinguished from their place.
18 Camel caravans turn aside to look for water, but don't find any and they die.
The paths turn aside of their way, They ascend into emptiness, and are lost.
19 Caravans from Tema looked, travelers from Sheba were confident,
Passengers of Tema looked expectingly, Travelers of Sheba hoped for them.
20 but their hopes were dashed—they came and found nothing.
They were ashamed that one has trusted, They have come to it and are confounded.
21 Now you are no help, just like that—you see my trouble and you're afraid.
Surely now you have become the same! You see a downfall, and are afraid.
22 Have I asked you for anything? Have I told you to bribe anyone for me from your wealth?
Is it because I said, Give to me? And, By your power bribe for me?
23 Have I asked you to rescue me from an enemy? Have I told you to save me from my oppressors?
And, Deliver me from the hand of an adversary? And, Ransom me from the hand of terrible ones?
24 Explain this to me, and I'll be quiet. Show me where I'm wrong.
Show me, and I keep silent, And what I have erred, let me understand.
25 Honest words are painful, but what do your arguments prove?
How powerful have been upright sayings, And what reproof from you reproves?
26 Are you going to argue over what I said, when the words of someone in despair should be left to blow away in the wind?
For reproof—do you reckon words? And for wind—sayings of the desperate?
27 You would play dice to win an orphan; you would bargain away your friend!
You cause anger to fall on the fatherless, And are strange to your friend.
28 Look me in the eye and see if I'm lying to your face!
And now, please, look on me, Even to your face do I lie?
29 Don't talk like this! Don't be unjust! What I'm saying is right.
Please turn back, let it not be perverseness, Indeed, turn back again—my righteousness [is] in it.
30 I'm not telling lies—don't you think I wouldn't know if I was wrong?”
Is there perverseness in my tongue? Does my palate not discern calamity?”
