Job 6
1 But Job answered and said,
Then Job spoke again, saying [to Eliphaz],
2 Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
“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 sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
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, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array 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 donkey bray when he hath grass? or loweth the 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 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or 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 The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.
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 me the thing that I long for!
“I wish that God would do for me what I have requested from him [DOU].
9 Even that it would please God to destroy 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; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed 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 prolong my life?
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? or is my flesh of brass?
I am not [RHQ] strong like rocks are, and my body is not made of bronze.
13 Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?
So I am not able to help myself, and [it seems that] there is no one to rescue me.”
14 To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but 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 brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
But [you, ] my friends, are not dependable. You are like streams: They spill over their banks [in the spring]
16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid:
when [the melting] ice and snow make those streams overflow,
17 What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing [in those streams], and the channels dry up.
18 The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, 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 troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
The men in those caravans search [for some water] because they are sure that they will find some.
20 They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
But they do not find any, so they are very disappointed.
21 For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, 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? or, Give a reward for me of 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, Deliver me from the enemy’s hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
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 arguing 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, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as 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 ye 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 be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.
Please look at me! I will not [RHQ] lie to you.
29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is 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 iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
Do you think that I am lying? No, I am not lying, because I know what is right and what is wrong [RHQ].”
