1Job replied,2‘I wish my great pain could be weighed! I wish all my suffering could be weighed on scales!3I’m sure it would weigh more than the grains of sand on the seashore. No wonder I’ve been so quick to speak!4The Mighty One has shot me with his arrows. I have to drink their poison. God’s terrors are aimed at me.5Does a wild donkey cry out when it has enough grass? Does an ox call out when it has plenty of food?6Is food that doesn’t have any taste eaten without salt? Is there any flavour in the sap of a mallow plant?7I refuse to touch that kind of food. It makes me ill.8‘I wish I could have what I’m asking for! I wish God would give me what I’m hoping for!9I wish he would crush me! I wish he would just cut off my life!10Then I’d still have one thing to comfort me. It would be that I haven’t said no to the Holy One’s commands. That would give me joy in spite of my pain that never ends.11‘I’m so weak that I no longer have any hope. Things have got so bad that I can’t wait for help anymore.12Am I as strong as stone? Is my body made out of bronze?13I don’t have the power to help myself. All hope of success has been taken away from me.14‘A person shouldn’t stop being kind to a friend. Anyone who does that stops showing respect for the Mighty One.15But my friends have stopped being kind to me. They are like streams that only flow for part of the year. They are like rivers that flow over their banks16when the ice begins to break up. The streams rise when the snow starts to melt.17But they stop flowing when the dry season comes. They disappear from their stream beds when the weather warms up.18Groups of traders turn away from their usual paths. They go off into the dry and empty land. And they die there.19Traders from Tema look for water. Travelling merchants from Sheba also hope to find it.20They become troubled because they had expected to find some. But when they arrive at the stream beds, they don’t find any water at all.21And now, my friends, you haven’t helped me either. You see the horrible condition I’m in. And that makes you afraid.22I’ve never said, “Give me something to help me. Use your wealth to set me free.23Save me from the power of my enemy. Rescue me from the power of mean people.”24‘Teach me. Then I’ll be quiet. Show me what I’ve done wrong.25Honest words are so painful! But your reasoning doesn’t prove anything.26Are you trying to correct what I’m saying? Are you treating my hopeless words like nothing but wind?27You would even cast lots for those whose fathers have died. You would even trade away your closest friend.28‘But now please look at me. Would I tell you a lie right here in front of you?29Stop what you are saying. Don’t be so unfair. Think it over again. You are trying to take my honesty away from me.30Has my mouth spoken anything that is evil? Do my lips say things that are hateful?’
Job 6
English Standard Version
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
1Then Job answered and said:2“Oh that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!3For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash. (Pr 27:3)4For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me. (Ps 38:2)5Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass, or the ox low over his fodder?6Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?[1]7My appetite refuses to touch them; they are as food that is loathsome to me.[2]8“Oh that I might have my request, and that God would fulfill my hope,9that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! (Nu 11:15; 1Ki 19:4)10This would be my comfort; I would even exult[3] in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One. (Le 19:2; Isa 30:14; Isa 57:15; Ho 11:9)11What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient?12Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?13Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me?14“He who withholds[4] kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. (Pr 11:24; Pr 17:17)15My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as torrential streams that pass away, (1Sa 14:33; Ps 38:11; Ps 41:9; Jer 15:18)16which are dark with ice, and where the snow hides itself.17When they melt, they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their place.18The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the waste and perish. (Ge 1:2; Jer 4:23)19The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba hope. (Ge 25:15; 1Ki 10:1; 1Ch 1:30; Isa 21:14; Jer 25:23)20They are ashamed because they were confident; they come there and are disappointed. (Isa 1:29; Jer 14:3)21For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid.22Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’? Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?23Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’? Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’? (Job 15:20; Job 27:13)24“Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.25How forceful are upright words! But what does reproof from you reprove?26Do you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing man is wind? (Job 7:7; Isa 41:29)27You would even cast lots over the fatherless, and bargain over your friend. (Joe 3:3; Na 3:10)28“But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face.29Please turn; let no injustice be done. Turn now; my vindication is at stake. (Job 17:10)30Is there any injustice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?