Job 6

Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“If my misery could be weighed

and my troubles be put on the scales,

³they would outweigh all the sands of the sea.

That is why I spoke impulsively.

⁴For the Almighty has struck me down with his arrows.

Their poison infects my spirit.

God’s terrors are lined up against me.

⁵Don’t I have a right to complain?

Don’t wild donkeys bray when they find no grass,

and oxen bellow when they have no food?

⁶Don’t people complain about unsalted food?

Does anyone want the tasteless white of an egg?^a

⁷My appetite disappears when I look at it;

I gag at the thought of eating it!

⁸“Oh, that I might have my request,

that God would grant my desire.

⁹I wish he would crush me.

I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me.

¹⁰At least I can take comfort in this:

Despite the pain,

I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹But I don’t have the strength to endure.

I have nothing to live for.

¹²Do I have the strength of a stone?

Is my body made of bronze?

¹³No, I am utterly helpless,

without any chance of success.

¹⁴“One should be kind to a fainting friend,

but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty.^b

¹⁵My brothers, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook

that overflows its banks in the spring

¹⁶when it is swollen with ice and melting snow.

¹⁷But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears.

The brook vanishes in the heat.

¹⁸The caravans turn aside to be refreshed,

but there is nothing to drink, so they die.

¹⁹The caravans from Tema search for this water;

the travelers from Sheba hope to find it.

²⁰They count on it but are disappointed.

When they arrive, their hopes are dashed.

²¹You, too, have given no help.

You have seen my calamity, and you are afraid.

²²But why? Have I ever asked you for a gift?

Have I begged for anything of yours for myself?

²³Have I asked you to rescue me from my enemies,

or to save me from ruthless people?

²⁴Teach me, and I will keep quiet.

Show me what I have done wrong.

²⁵Honest words can be painful,

but what do your criticisms amount to?

²⁶Do you think your words are convincing

when you disregard my cry of desperation?

²⁷You would even send an orphan into slavery^c

or sell a friend.

²⁸Look at me!

Would I lie to your face?

²⁹Stop assuming my guilt,

for I have done no wrong.

³⁰Do you think I am lying?

Don’t I know the difference between right and wrong?