¹Then Job responded:

²“If my grief could be weighed and my troubles placed on the scales

³they would be heavier than the sand of the sea. That's why I spoke so rashly.

⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; their poison saps my spirit. God's terrors are lined up against me.[#6:4. As in battle lines.]

⁵Don't wild donkeys bray when their grass is gone? Don't cattle groan when they don't have food![#6:5. In other words, “I have a right to complain!”]

⁶Can something that's tasteless be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg?

⁷I just can't touch any food—even the thought makes me feel sick!

⁸Oh, if only I could have what I really want, that God would give me what I most desire—

⁹that God would be willing to crush me to death, that he would just let me die!

¹⁰But it still comforts me to know, making me happy through the never-ending pain, that I have never rejected the words of God.[#6:10. Literally, “Holy One.”]

¹¹Why should I go on waiting when I don't have the strength? Why should I keep going when I don't know what is going to happen to me?

¹²Am I as strong as rock? Am I made out of bronze?

¹³How can I help myself now that any chance of success is ripped away from me?[#6:13. Literally, “driven.”]

¹⁴Anyone who isn't kind to a friend has given up respecting the Almighty.

¹⁵My brothers have acted as deceptively as a desert stream, rushing waters in the desert that vanish.[#6:15. Referring to Job's friends.]

¹⁶The stream floods when it is full of dark ice and melting snow,

¹⁷but in the heat it dries up and disappears, vanishing from where it once was.

¹⁸Camel caravans turn aside to look for water, but don't find any and they die.

¹⁹Caravans from Tema looked, travelers from Sheba were confident,

²⁰but their hopes were dashed—they came and found nothing.

²¹Now you are no help, just like that—you see my trouble and you're afraid.[#6:21. Job is saying that Eliphaz is a helpful as a dried up stream that provides no water.]

²²Have I asked you for anything? Have I told you to bribe anyone for me from your wealth?[#6:22. Or “pay a ransom.”]

²³Have I asked you to rescue me from an enemy? Have I told you to save me from my oppressors?

²⁴Explain this to me, and I'll be quiet. Show me where I'm wrong.

²⁵Honest words are painful, but what do your arguments prove?[#6:25. Or “forceful.”]

²⁶Are you going to argue over what I said, when the words of someone in despair should be left to blow away in the wind?

²⁷You would play dice to win an orphan; you would bargain away your friend!

²⁸Look me in the eye and see if I'm lying to your face!

²⁹Don't talk like this! Don't be unjust! What I'm saying is right.[#6:29. Literally, “turn.” Job is asking Eliphaz to turn away from this line of argument.]

³⁰I'm not telling lies—don't you think I wouldn't know if I was wrong?”[#6:30. Literally, “Can't my palate discern calamity?”]