Job Answers Eliphaz

1Then Job answered and said,

2“Oh that my vexation were actually weighed

And laid in the balances together with my destruction!

3For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;

Therefore my words have been rash.

4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,

[†]Their poison my spirit drinks;

The horrors of God are arranged against me.

5Does the wild donkey bray over his grass,

Or does the ox low over his fodder?

6Can something tasteless be eaten without salt,

Or is there any taste in the slime of a [†]yolk?

7My soul refuses to touch them;

They are like loathsome food to me.

8“Oh that my request might come to pass,

And that God would grant my hope!

9Would that God were willing to crush me,

That He would release His hand and cut me off!

10But it is still my comfort,

And I rejoice in unsparing pain,

That I have not at all hidden away the words of the Holy One.

11What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should [†]endure?

12Is my strength the strength of stones,

Or is my flesh bronze?

13Is it that there is no help within me,

And that the [†]success of sound wisdom is driven from me?

14“For the despairing man lovingkindness should be from his friend;

But he forsakes the [†]fear of the Almighty.

15My brothers have betrayed me like a [†]wadi,

Like the torrents of [†]wadis which pass away,

16Which grow dark because of ice

And upon which the snow hides itself.

17When they become waterless, they [†]are silent;

When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

18The [†]paths of their course wind along;

They go up into a formless place and perish.

19The caravans of Tema looked;

The travelers of Sheba hoped for them.

20They were ashamed for they had trusted;

They came there and were humiliated.

21Indeed, you have now become such;

You see a terror and are afraid.

22Have I said, ‘Give me something,’

Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’

23Or, ‘Give me escape from the hand of the adversary,’

Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless men’?

24“Instruct me, and I will be silent;

And cause me to understand how I have erred.

25How painful are upright words!

But what does your reproof prove?

26Do you think to reprove my words,

Or think of the words of one in despair as wind?

27You would even cast lots for the orphans

And bargain over your friend.

28So now be willing to face me,

And see if I lie to your face.

29Now turn from this, let there be no unrighteousness;

Even turn from this, my righteousness is yet in it.

30Is there unrighteousness on my tongue?

Cannot my palate discern [†]destruction?