Chapter 6
Job’s First Reply. 1 Then Job answered and said:
2 Ah, could my anguish but be measured
and my calamity laid with it in the scales,
3 They would now outweigh the sands of the sea!
Because of this I speak without restraint.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me,(A)
and my spirit drinks in their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass?
Does the ox low over its fodder?
6 Can anything insipid be eaten without salt?
Is there flavor in the white of an egg?
7 I refuse to touch them;
they are like loathsome food to me.
8 Oh, that I might have my request,
and that God would grant what I long for:
9 Even that God would decide to crush me,
that he would put forth his hand and cut me off!
10 Then I should still have consolation
and could exult through unremitting pain,
because I have not transgressed the commands of the Holy One.
11 What strength have I that I should endure,
and what is my limit that I should be patient?
12 Have I the strength of stones,
or is my flesh of bronze?
13 Have I no helper,(B)
and has my good sense deserted me?
14 A friend owes kindness to one in despair,
though he has forsaken the fear of the Almighty.
15 My companions are undependable as a wadi,
as watercourses that run dry in the wadies;
16 Though they may be black with ice,
and with snow heaped upon them,
17 Yet once they flow, they cease to be;
in the heat, they disappear from their place.
18 Caravans wander from their routes;
they go into the wasteland and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema search,
the companies of Sheba have hopes;
20 They are disappointed, though they were confident;
they come there and are frustrated.
21 It is thus that you have now become for me;
you see a terrifying thing and are afraid.
22 Have I said, “Give me something,
make a bribe on my behalf from your possessions”?
23 Or “Deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
redeem me from oppressors”?
24 Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have erred.
25 How painful honest words can be;
yet how unconvincing is your argument!
26 Do you consider your words as proof,
but the sayings of a desperate man as wind?
27 You would even cast lots for the orphan,
and would barter over your friend!
28 Come, now, give me your attention;
surely I will not lie to your face.
29 Think it over; let there be no injustice.
Think it over; I still am right.
30 Is there insincerity on my tongue,
or cannot my taste discern falsehood?
Footnotes
- 6:5–6
- 6:19
- 6:21
Cross references
- 6:4 : Ps 88:17.
- 6:13 : Jb 19:14–15.
