< Job 6 >

1 Then Job spoke again, saying [to Eliphaz],
ויען איוב ויאמר
2 “If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,
לו--שקול ישקל כעשי והיתי (והותי) במאזנים ישאו-יחד
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].
כי-עתה--מחול ימים יכבד על-כן דברי לעו
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.
כי חצי שדי עמדי--אשר חמתם שתה רוחי בעותי אלוה יערכוני
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].
הינהק-פרא עלי-דשא אם יגעה-שור על-בלילו
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].
היאכל תפל מבלי-מלח אם-יש-טעם בריר חלמות
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].
מאנה לנגוע נפשי המה כדוי לחמי
8 “I wish that God would do for me what I have requested from him [DOU].
מי-יתן תבוא שאלתי ותקותי יתן אלוה
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.
ויאל אלוה וידכאני יתר ידו ויבצעני
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.
ותהי-עוד נחמתי-- ואסלדה בחילה לא יחמול כי-לא כחדתי אמרי קדוש
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].
מה-כחי כי-איחל ומה-קצי כי-אאריך נפשי
12 I am not [RHQ] strong like rocks are, and my body is not made of bronze.
אם-כח אבנים כחי אם-בשרי נחוש
13 So I am not able to help myself, and [it seems that] there is no one to rescue me.”
האם אין עזרתי בי ותשיה נדחה ממני
14 “When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him, even if he stops revering Almighty [God].
למס מרעהו חסד ויראת שדי יעזוב
15 But [you, ] my friends, are not dependable. You are like streams: They spill over their banks [in the spring]
אחי בגדו כמו-נחל כאפיק נחלים יעברו
16 when [the melting] ice and snow make those streams overflow,
הקדרים מני-קרח עלימו יתעלם-שלג
17 but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing [in those streams], and the channels dry up.
בעת יזרבו נצמתו בחמו נדעכו ממקומם
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].
ילפתו ארחות דרכם יעלו בתהו ויאבדו
19 The men in those caravans search [for some water] because they are sure that they will find some.
הביטו ארחות תמא הליכת שבא קוו-למו
20 But they do not find any, so they are very disappointed.
בשו כי-בטח באו עדיה ויחפרו
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].
כי-עתה הייתם לא תראו חתת ותיראו
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]?
הכי-אמרתי הבו לי ומכחכם שחדו בעדי
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!]”
ומלטוני מיד-צר ומיד עריצים תפדוני
24 “Answer me [now, and then] I will be quiet; tell me what wrong things I have done!
הורוני ואני אחריש ומה-שגיתי הבינו לי
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]!
מה-נמרצו אמרי-ישר ומה-יוכיח הוכח מכם
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]!
הלהוכח מלים תחשבו ולרוח אמרי נואש
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]!
אף-על-יתום תפילו ותכרו על-ריעכם
28 Please look at me! I will not [RHQ] lie to you.
ועתה הואילו פנו-בי ועל-פניכם אם-אכזב
29 Stop [saying that I have sinned, and] stop criticizing me unjustly! You should realize that I have not done things that are wrong.
שובו-נא אל-תהי עולה ושבי (ושבו) עוד צדקי-בה
30 Do you think that I am lying? No, I am not lying, because I know what is right and what is wrong [RHQ].”
היש-בלשוני עולה אם-חכי לא-יבין הוות

< Job 6 >