Job 6:1-18 ▼

1 Then Job answered and said,

2 “Oh, that my grief could actually be weighed And placed in the balances together with my tragedy [to see if my grief is the grief of a coward]!

3 “For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; Therefore my words have been incoherent,

4 Because the arrows of the Almighty are within 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 does the ox low over his fodder?

6 “Can something that has no taste to it be eaten without salt? Or is there any flavor in the white of an egg?

7 “My soul refuses to touch them; Such things are like loathsome food to me [sickening and repugnant].

8 “Oh that my request would come to pass, And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

9 “I wish that it would please God to crush me, That He would let loose His hand and cut me off.

10 “Then I would still have consolation, And I would jump for joy amid unsparing pain, That I have not denied or hidden the words of the Holy One.

11 “What strength do I have left, that I should wait [and hope]? And what is ahead of me, that I should be patient and endure?

12 “Is my strength and endurance that of stones, Or is my flesh made of bronze?

13 “Is it that I have no help within myself, And that success and wisdom have been driven from me?

14 “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; So that he does not abandon (turn away from) the fear of the Almighty.

15 “My brothers have acted deceitfully like a brook, Like the torrents of brooks that vanish,

16 Which are dull and dirty because of ice, And into which the snow melts and hides itself;

17 When it is warm, they are silent and cease to flow; When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

18 “The paths of their course wind along, They go up into nothing and perish. [Your counsel is as helpful to me as a dry streambed in the heat of summer.]