Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

6 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 zthe sand of the sea;

therefore my words have been rash.

  4 For athe 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?1

  7 My appetite refuses to touch them;

they are as food that is loathsome to me.2

  8 “Oh that I might have my request,

and that God would fulfill my hope,

  9 that it would bplease God to crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

  10 This would be my comfort;

I would even exult3 in pain cunsparing,

for I have not denied the words of dthe 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 ewithholds4 kindness from a ffriend

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

  15 My gbrothers are htreacherous as a torrent-bed,

as torrential istreams 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 jthe waste and perish.

  19 The caravans of kTema look,

the travelers of lSheba hope.

  20 They are mashamed because they were confident;

they come there and are mdisappointed.

  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 nthe 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 owind?

  27 You would even pcast 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 qPlease 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?