Job 6
1 And Job answereth and saith: —
Then Job spoke again, saying [to Eliphaz],
2 O that my provocation were thoroughly weighed, And my calamity in balances They would lift up together!
“If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,
3 For now, than the sands of the sea it is heavier, Therefore my words have been 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 arrows of the Mighty [are] with me, Whose poison is drinking up my spirit. Terrors of God array themselves [for] 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 Brayeth a wild ass over tender grass? Loweth an ox over his provender?
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 Eaten is an insipid thing without salt? Is there sense in the drivel of dreams?
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 My soul is refusing to touch! They [are] as my sickening 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 my request may come, That God may grant my hope!
“I wish that God would do for me what I have requested from him [DOU].
9 That God would please — and bruise me, 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 And yet it is my comfort, (And I exult in pain — He doth not spare, ) That I have not hidden The sayings 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 power that I should hope? And what 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? Is my flesh brazen?
I am not [RHQ] strong like rocks are, and my body is not made of bronze.
13 Is not my help with me, And substance driven from me?
So I am not able to help myself, and [it seems that] there is no one to rescue me.”
14 To a despiser of his friends [is] shame, And the fear of the Mighty he forsaketh.
“When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him, even if he stops revering Almighty [God].
15 My brethren have deceived as a brook, As a 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 That are black because of ice, By them doth snow hide itself.
when [the melting] ice and snow make those streams overflow,
17 By the time they are warm they have been cut off, By its being hot they have been Extinguished from their place.
but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing [in those streams], and the channels dry up.
18 Turn aside do the paths of their way, They ascend into emptiness, and are lost.
[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 Passengers of Tema looked expectingly, Travellers of Sheba hoped for them.
The men in those caravans search [for some water] because they are sure that they will find some.
20 They were ashamed that one hath trusted, They have come unto it and are confounded.
But they do not find any, so they are very disappointed.
21 Surely now ye have become the same! Ye see a downfall, 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 Is it because I said, Give to me? And, By your power bribe for me?
[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 And, Deliver me from the hand of an adversary? And, From the hand of terrible ones ransom me?
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 Shew me, and I — I keep silent, And what I have erred, let me understand.
“Answer me [now, and then] I will be quiet; tell me what wrong things I have done!
25 How powerful have been upright sayings, And what doth reproof from you 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 For reproof — do you reckon words? And for wind — sayings of the desperate.
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 Anger on the fatherless ye cause to fall, And are strange to 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 And, now, please, look upon me, Even to your face do I lie?
Please look at me! I will not [RHQ] lie to you.
29 Turn back, I pray you, let it not be perverseness, Yea, turn back 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 in my tongue perverseness? Discerneth not my palate desirable things?
Do you think that I am lying? No, I am not lying, because I know what is right and what is wrong [RHQ].”
