Job 6:1-18 ▼

1 Then Job answered:

2 If only my grief could be weighed and my devastation placed with it on the scales.

3 For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas! That is why my words are rash.

4 Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks their poison. God’s terrors are arrayed against me.

5 Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass or an ox low over its fodder?

6 Is bland food eaten without salt? Is there flavor in an egg white?

7 I refuse to touch them; they are like contaminated food.

8 If only my request would be granted and God would provide what I hope for:

9 that he would decide to crush me, to unleash his power and cut me off!

10 It would still bring me comfort, and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

11 What strength do I have, that I should continue to hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?

12 Is my strength that of stone, or my flesh made of bronze?

13 Since I cannot help myself, the hope for success has been banished from me.

14 A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends, even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.

15 My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi, as seasonal streams that overflow

16 and become darkened because of ice, and the snow melts into them.

17 The wadis evaporate in warm weather; they disappear from their channels in hot weather.

18 Caravans turn away from their routes, go up into the desert, and perish.