1Then Job answered:
2“O that my vexation were weighed[#Job 31.6]
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
3For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;[#Prov 27.3]
therefore my words have been rash.
4For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;[#Job 21.20; Ps 38.2; 88.15; #6.4 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai]
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5Does the wild ass bray over its grass
or the ox low over its fodder?
6Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?
7My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are like food that is loathsome to me.
8“O that I might have my request[#Job 14.13]
and that God would grant my desire,
9that it would please God to crush me,[#1 Kings 19.4]
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10This would be my consolation;[#Lev 19.2; Job 23.11, 12; Isa 57.15; Hos 11.9]
I would even exult in unrelenting pain,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11What is my strength, that I should wait?[#Job 21.4]
And what is my end, that I should be patient?
12Is my strength the strength of stones,
or is my flesh bronze?
13In truth I have no help in me,[#Job 26.2, 3]
and any resource is driven from me.
14“Those who withhold kindness from a friend[#6.14 Syr Vg Compare Tg: Meaning of Heb uncertain]
forsake the fear of the Almighty.
15My companions are treacherous like a torrent bed,[#Ps 38.11; Jer 15.18]
like swollen streams that pass away,
16that run dark with ice,
turbid with melting snow.
17In time of heat they disappear;[#Job 24.19]
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste and perish.
19The caravans of Tema look;[#Gen 25.15; 1 Kings 10.1; Isa 21.14]
the travelers of Sheba hope.
20They are disappointed because they were confident;[#Jer 14.3]
they come there and are confounded.
21Such you have now become to me;[#6.21 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain]
you see my calamity and are afraid.
22Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23Or, ‘Save me from an opponent’s hand’?
Or, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’?
24“Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone wrong.
25How forceful are honest words![#Eccl 12.10, 11]
But your reproof, what does it reprove?
26Do you think that you can reprove words,[#Job 8.2]
as if the speech of the desperate were wind?
27You would even cast lots over the orphan[#Joel 3.3; 2 Pet 2.3]
and bargain over your friend.
28“But now, be pleased to look at me,[#Job 27.4]
for I will not lie to your face.
29Turn, I pray; let no wrong be done.
Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
30Is there any wrong on my tongue?[#Job 12.11; 27.4]
Cannot my taste discern calamity?