Job defends his anger

¹Job responded:

²Oh, that my grief were actually weighed,

all of it were lifted up in scales;

³for now it’s heavier than the sands of the sea;

⁴The Almighty’s arrows are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison,

and God’s terrors are arrayed against me.

⁵Does a donkey bray over grass

or an ox bellow over its fodder?

⁶Is tasteless food eaten without salt,

or does egg white have taste?

⁷I refuse to touch them;

they resemble food for the sick.

He wishes to die

⁸Oh, that what I’ve requested would come

⁹that God be willing to crush me,

release his hand and cut me off.

¹⁰I’d still take comfort,

relieved even though in persistent pain;

¹¹What is my strength, that I should hope;

my end, that my life should drag on?

¹²Is my strength that of rocks,

my flesh bronze?

¹³I don’t have a helper for myself;

success has been taken from me.

He accuses his friends

¹⁴Are friends loyal to the one who despairs,[#6.14 Heb uncertain]

or do they stop fearing the Almighty?

¹⁵My companions are treacherous like a stream in the desert,

like channels that overrun their streambeds,

¹⁶like those darkened by thawing ice,

¹⁷but that stop flowing in dry times

¹⁸Caravans turn aside from their paths;

they go up into untamed areas and perish.

¹⁹Caravans from Tema look;

merchants from Sheba hope for it.

²⁰They are ashamed that they trusted;

they arrive and are dismayed.

²¹That’s what you are like;[#6.21 Heb uncertain]

you see something awful and are afraid.

He appeals to his friends

²²Have I said, “Give me something?

Offer a bribe from your wealth for me?

²³Rescue me from the hand of my enemy?

Ransom me from the grip of the ruthless?”

²⁴Instruct me and I’ll be quiet;

inform me how I’ve erred.

²⁵How painful are truthful words,

but what do your condemnations accomplish?

²⁶Do you intend to correct my words,

to treat the words of a hopeless man as wind?

²⁷Would you even gamble over an orphan,

barter away your friend?

²⁸Now look at me—

would I lie to your face?

²⁹Turn! Don’t be faithless.

Turn now! I am righteous.

³⁰Is there wrong on my tongue,

or can my mouth not recognize disaster?