Job

1Then Job replied:

2‘If only my anguish could be weighed

and all my misery be placed on the scales!

3It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas –

no wonder my words have been impetuous.

4The arrows of the Almighty are in me,

my spirit drinks in their poison;

God’s terrors are marshalled against me.

5Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,

or an ox bellow when it has fodder?

6Is tasteless food eaten without salt,

or is there flavour in the sap of the mallow6:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.?

7I refuse to touch it;

such food makes me ill.

8‘Oh, that I might have my request,

that God would grant what I hope for,

9that God would be willing to crush me,

to let loose his hand and cut off my life!

10Then I would still have this consolation –

my joy in unrelenting pain –

that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

11‘What strength do I have, that I should still hope?

What prospects, that I should be patient?

12Do I have the strength of stone?

Is my flesh bronze?

13Do I have any power to help myself,

now that success has been driven from me?

14‘Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

15But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,

as the streams that overflow

16when darkened by thawing ice

and swollen with melting snow,

17but that stop flowing in the dry season,

and in the heat vanish from their channels.

18Caravans turn aside from their routes;

they go off into the wasteland and perish.

19The caravans of Tema look for water,

the travelling merchants of Sheba look in hope.

20They are distressed, because they had been confident;

they arrive there, only to be disappointed.

21Now you too have proved to be of no help;

you see something dreadful and are afraid.

22Have I ever said, “Give something on my behalf,

pay a ransom for me from your wealth,

23deliver me from the hand of the enemy,

rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless”?

24‘Teach me, and I will be quiet;

show me where I have been wrong.

25How painful are honest words!

But what do your arguments prove?

26Do you mean to correct what I say,

and treat my desperate words as wind?

27You would even cast lots for the fatherless

and barter away your friend.

28‘But now be so kind as to look at me.

Would I lie to your face?

29Relent, do not be unjust;

reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.6:29 Or my righteousness still stands

30Is there any wickedness on my lips?

Can my mouth not discern malice?