Job, 6

1. Job spoke next. He said:

1. But Job answered and said,

2. If only my misery could be weighed, and all my ills be put together on the scales!

2. Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!

3. But they outweigh the sands of the seas: what wonder then if my words are wild?

3. For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.

4. The arrows of Shaddai stick fast in me, my spirit absorbs their poison, God's terrors stand paraded against me.

4. For the arrows of the Almighty [are] within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

5. Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox low when its fodder is within reach?

5. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?

6. Is not food insipid, eaten without salt, is there any taste in egg-white?

6. Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there [any] taste in the white of an egg?

7. But the very things my appetite revolts at are now my diet in sickness.

7. The things [that] my soul refused to touch [are] as my sorrowful meat.

8. Will no one hear my prayer, will not God himself grant my hope?

8. Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant [me] the thing that I long for!

9. May it please God to crush me, to give his hand free play and do away with me!

9. Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

10. This thought, at least, would give me comfort (a thrill of joy in unrelenting pain), that I never rebelled against the Holy One's decrees.

10. Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

11. But have I the strength to go on waiting? And why be patient, when doomed to such an end?

11. What [is] my strength, that I should hope? and what [is] mine end, that I should prolong my life?

12. Is mine the strength of stone, is my flesh made of bronze?

12. [Is] my strength the strength of stones? or [is] my flesh of brass?

13. Can I support myself on nothing? Has not all help deserted me?

13. [Is] not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?

14. Refuse faithful love to your neighbour and you forsake the fear of Shaddai.

14. To him that is afflicted pity [should be shewed] from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.

15. Like the torrent, my brothers have proved deceptive, as fleeting torrents they flow:

15. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, [and] as the stream of brooks they pass away;

16. the ice makes their waters turgid when, above them, the snow melts,

16. Which are blackish by reason of the ice, [and] wherein the snow is hid:

17. but, come the burning summer, they run dry, they vanish in the heat of the sun.

17. What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

18. Caravans leave the trail to find them, go deep into wastelands, and are lost.

18. The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.

19. The caravans of Tema look to them, and on them Sheba's convoys build their hopes.

19. The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.

20. Their trust brings only embarrassment, they reach them only to be thwarted.

20. They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.

21. And this is how you now treat me, terrified at the sight of me, you take fright.

21. For now ye are nothing; ye see [my] casting down, and are afraid.

22. Have I said to you, 'Give me something, make some present for me at your own cost,

22. Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?

23. snatch me from the grasp of an oppressor, ransom me from the grip of a violent man'?

23. Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?

24. Put me right, and I shall say no more; show me where I have been at fault.

24. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

25. Fair comment can be borne without resentment, but what are your strictures aimed at?

25. How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?

26. Do you think mere words deserve censure, desperate speech that the wind blows away?

26. Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, [which are] as wind?

27. Soon you will be haggling over the price of an orphan, and selling your friend at bargain price!

27. Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig [a pit] for your friend.

28. Come, I beg you, look at me: man to man, I shall not lie.

28. Now therefore be content, look upon me; for [it is] evident unto you if I lie.

29. Relent then, no harm is done; relent then, since I am upright.

29. Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness [is] in it.

30. Is evil to be found on my lips? Can I not recognise misfortune when I taste it?

30. Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?