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