Hiob 6,1 | New International Reader’s Version

Job’s reply

1 Job replied, 2 ‘I wish my great pain could be weighed! I wish all my suffering could be weighed on scales! 3 I’m sure it would weigh more than the grains of sand on the seashore. No wonder I’ve been so quick to speak! 4 The Mighty One has shot me with his arrows. I have to drink their poison. God’s terrors are aimed at me. 5 Does a wild donkey cry out when it has enough grass? Does an ox call out when it has plenty of food? 6 Is food that doesn’t have any taste eaten without salt? Is there any flavour in the sap of a mallow plant? 7 I 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! 9 I wish he would crush me! I wish he would just cut off my life! 10 Then 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. 12 Am I as strong as stone? Is my body made out of bronze? 13 I 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. 15 But 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 banks 16 when the ice begins to break up. The streams rise when the snow starts to melt. 17 But they stop flowing when the dry season comes. They disappear from their stream beds when the weather warms up. 18 Groups of traders turn away from their usual paths. They go off into the dry and empty land. And they die there. 19 Traders from Tema look for water. Travelling merchants from Sheba also hope to find it. 20 They 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. 21 And now, my friends, you haven’t helped me either. You see the horrible condition I’m in. And that makes you afraid. 22 I’ve never said, “Give me something to help me. Use your wealth to set me free. 23 Save 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. 25 Honest words are so painful! But your reasoning doesn’t prove anything. 26 Are you trying to correct what I’m saying? Are you treating my hopeless words like nothing but wind? 27 You 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? 29 Stop what you are saying. Don’t be so unfair. Think it over again. You are trying to take my honesty away from me. 30 Has my mouth spoken anything that is evil? Do my lips say things that are hateful?’

English Standard Version

Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

1 Then Job answered and said: 2 “Oh that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! 3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash. 4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me. 5 Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass, or the ox low over his fodder? 6 Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?* 7 My appetite refuses to touch them; they are as food that is loathsome to me.* 8 “Oh that I might have my request, and that God would fulfill my hope, 9 that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! 10 This would be my comfort; I would even exult* in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One. 11 What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? 12 Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? 13 Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me? 14 “He who withholds* kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 15 My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as torrential streams that pass away, 16 which are dark with ice, and where the snow hides itself. 17 When they melt, they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their place. 18 The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the waste and perish. 19 The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba hope. 20 They are ashamed because they were confident; they come there and are disappointed. 21 For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid. 22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’? Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’? 23 Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’? Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’? 24 “Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray. 25 How forceful are upright words! But what does reproof from you reprove? 26 Do you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing man is wind? 27 You would even cast lots over the fatherless, and bargain over your friend. 28 “But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face. 29 Please turn; let no injustice be done. Turn now; my vindication is at stake. 30 Is there any injustice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

Hiob 6,1 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

Job’s reply

Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just