Job - Chapter 6 | English Standard Version

  • 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?
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