Job 6
1 Then Job spoke again, saying [to Eliphaz],
But Job answered and said,
2 “If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,
Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
3 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].
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
4 [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.
For the arrows of the Almighty [are] within me, the poison of which drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
5 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].
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
6 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].
Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt? or is there [any] taste in the white of an egg?
7 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].
The things [that] my soul refused to touch [are] as my sorrowful food.
8 “I wish that God would do for me what I have requested from him [DOU].
Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant [me] the thing that I long for!
9 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.
Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
10 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.
Then should I yet have comfort; yes, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
11 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].
What [is] my strength, that I should hope? and what [is] my end, that I should prolong my life?
12 I am not [RHQ] strong like rocks are, and my body is not made of bronze.
[Is] my strength the strength of stones? or [is] my flesh of brass?
13 So I am not able to help myself, and [it seems that] there is no one to rescue me.”
[Is] not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?
14 “When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him, even if he stops revering Almighty [God].
To him that is afflicted pity [should be shown] from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
15 But [you, ] my friends, are not dependable. You are like streams: They spill over their banks [in the spring]
My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, [and] as the stream of brooks they pass away;
16 when [the melting] ice and snow make those streams overflow,
Which are blackish by reason of the ice, [and] in which the snow is hid:
17 but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing [in those streams], and the channels dry up.
In the time when they become warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18 [The caravans of merchants] turn off the path [to search for some water], but there is no water, so they die [in the desert].
The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.
19 The men in those caravans search [for some water] because they are sure that they will find some.
The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
20 But they do not find any, so they are very disappointed.
They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
21 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].
For now ye are nothing: ye see [my] casting down, and are afraid.
22 [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]?
Did I say, Bring to me? or Give a reward for me of your substance?
23 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!]”
Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
24 “Answer me [now, and then] I will be quiet; tell me what wrong things I have done!
Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand in what I have erred.
25 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]!
How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?
26 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]!
Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, [which are] as wind?
27 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]!
Yes, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig [a pit] for your friend.
28 Please look at me! I will not [RHQ] lie to you.
Now therefore be content, look upon me; for [it is] evident to you if I lie.
29 Stop [saying that I have sinned, and] stop criticizing me unjustly! You should realize that I have not done things that are wrong.
Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yes, return again, my righteousness [is] in it.
30 Do you think that I am lying? No, I am not lying, because I know what is right and what is wrong [RHQ].”
Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
