Job 6

¹Then Job answered:

²“O 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.

⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

⁵Does the wild ass 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 slime of the purslane?

⁷My appetite refuses to touch them;

they are as food that is loathsome to me.

⁸“O that I might have my request,

and that God would grant my desire;

⁹that it would please God to crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

¹⁰This would be my consolation;

I would even exult in pain unsparing;

for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

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?

¹³In truth I have no help in me,

and any resource is driven from me.

¹⁴“He who withholds kindness from a friend

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵My brethren are treacherous as a torrent-bed,

as freshets that pass away,

¹⁶which are dark with ice,

and where the snow hides itself.

¹⁷In time of heat 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.

¹⁹The caravans of Tema look,

the travelers of Sheba hope.

²⁰They are disappointed because they were confident;

they come thither and are confounded.

²¹Such you have now become to me;

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, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’?

²⁴“Teach me, and I will be silent;

make me understand how I have erred.

²⁵How forceful are honest 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?

²⁷You 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.

²⁹Turn, I pray, let no wrong be done.

Turn now, my vindication is at stake.

³⁰Is there any wrong on my tongue?

Cannot my taste discern calamity?