Job 6
1 Then Job answered and said:
Then Job spoke again, saying [to Eliphaz],
2 O that my grief were weighed thoroughly! That my calamities were put together in the balance!
“If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,
3 Surely they would be heavier than the sand of the sea; On this account were my words rash.
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 have pierced me; Their poison drinketh up my spirit; The terrors of God 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 ass bray in the midst of 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 unsavory 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 That which my soul abhorreth to touch Hath become 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 O that I might have my request, And that God would grant me that which I long for!
“I wish that God would do for me what I have requested from him [DOU].
9 That it would please God to destroy me; That he would let loose his hand, and make an end of me!
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 Yet it should still be my consolation, Yea, in unsparing anguish I would exult, That I have not denied the commands 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 mine end, that I should be patient?
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 brass?
I am not [RHQ] strong like rocks are, and my body is not made of bronze.
13 Alas, there is no help within me! Deliverance is driven from me!
So I am not able to help myself, and [it seems that] there is no one to rescue me.”
14 To the afflicted, kindness should be shown by a friend; Else he casteth off 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 But my brethren are faithless like a brook; Like streams of the valley that 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, And the snow, which hideth itself in them.
when [the melting] ice and snow make those streams overflow,
17 As soon as they flow forth, they vanish; When the heat cometh, they are dried up from their place.
but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing [in those streams], and the channels dry up.
18 The caravans turn aside to them on their way; They go up into the desert, 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 look for them; The companies of Sheba expect to see them;
The men in those caravans search [for some water] because they are sure that they will find some.
20 They are ashamed that they have relied on them; They come to their place, and are confounded.
But they do not find any, so they are very disappointed.
21 So ye also are nothing; Ye see a terror, and shrink back.
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 Have I said, Bring me gifts? Or, Give a present for me out 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, Rescue 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 Convince me, and I will hold my peace; 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 powerful are the words of truth! But what do your reproaches prove?
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 mean to censure words? The words of a man in despair are but 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 Truly ye spread a net for the fatherless; 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 Look now upon me, I pray you; For to your very face can I speak falsehood?
Please look at me! I will not [RHQ] lie to you.
29 Return, I pray, and let there be no unfairness; Yea, return; —still is my cause righteous.
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 on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern what is sinful?
Do you think that I am lying? No, I am not lying, because I know what is right and what is wrong [RHQ].”
