Job 6

New International Version

• 1. Then Job replied:
• 2. "If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!
• 3. It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas- no wonder my words have been impetuous.
• 4. The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me.
• 5. Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
• 6. Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?
• 7. I 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,
• 9. that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!
• 10. Then 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?
• 12. Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?
• 13. Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?
• 14. "A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
• 15. But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow
• 16. when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,
• 17. but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.
• 18. Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish.
• 19. The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
• 20. They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
• 21. Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.
• 22. Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
• 23. deliver me from the hand of the enemy, ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless'?
• 24. "Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.
• 25. How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?
• 26. Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?
• 27. You 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?
• 29. Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.
• 30. Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?

New International Version