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Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

 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?^[a]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are as food that is loathsome to me.^[b]

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^[c] 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^[d] 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?

Footnotes:

1. Job 6:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
2. Job 6:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
3. Job 6:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
4. Job 6:14 Syriac, Vulgate (compare Targum); the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

Cross references:

1. Job 6:3 : [Prov. 27:3]
2. Job 6:4 : Ps. 38:2
3. Job 6:9 : 1 Kgs. 19:4; [Num. 11:15]
4. Job 6:10 : [Isa. 30:14]
5. Job 6:10 : Lev. 19:2; Isa. 57:15; Hos. 11:9
6. Job 6:14 : [Prov. 11:24]
7. Job 6:14 : [Prov. 17:17]
8. Job 6:15 : [Ps. 38:11; 41:9]
9. Job 6:15 : [1 Sam. 14:33]
10. Job 6:15 : [Jer. 15:18]
11. Job 6:18 : [Gen. 1:2; Jer. 4:23]
12. Job 6:19 : Gen. 25:15; 1 Chr. 1:30; Isa. 21:14; Jer. 25:23
13. Job 6:19 : See 1 Kgs. 10:1
14. Job 6:20 : Isa. 1:29; Jer. 14:3
15. Job 6:20 : Isa. 1:29; Jer. 14:3
16. Job 6:23 : ch. 15:20; 27:13
17. Job 6:26 : ch. 7:7; Isa. 41:29
18. Job 6:27 : Joel 3:3; Nah. 3:10
19. Job 6:29 : ch. 17:10