Job Replies: My Complaint is Just
1 Then Job answered,
2 “Oh that my anguish could be weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the scales!
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas,
therefore have my words been rash.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me.
My spirit drinks up their poison.
The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?
Or does the ox low over his fodder?
6 Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 I refuse to touch them.
They are like loathsome food to me.
8 “Oh that I might have my request,
that God would grant the thing that I long for,
9 that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 Let still be my consolation.
Yes, let me exult in pain that does not spare,
that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
What is my end, that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh of bronze?
13 Is it not that I have no help in me,
that wisdom is driven quite from me?
14 To him who is ready to faint,
kindness should be shown from his friend,
even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a seasonal brook,
like the stream of brooks that pass away,
16 which are dark with ice,
and into which the snow hides itself.
17 In the dry season, they disappear.
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The caravans that travel beside them turn away.
They go up into the waste and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema looked.
The companies of Sheba waited for them.
20 They were distressed because they were confident.
They came there and were confounded.
21 For now you are nothing.
You see a terror and are afraid.
22 Did I say, ‘Give to me?’
or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth?’
23 or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand?’
or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?’
24 Teach me, and I will hold my peace.
Cause me to understand my error.
25 How forcible are words of uprightness!
But your reproof, what does it reprove?
26 Do you intend to reprove words,
since the speeches of one who is desperate are like wind?
27 Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless,
and make merchandise of your friend.
28 Now therefore be pleased to look at me,
for surely I will not lie to your face.
29 Please return.
Let there be no injustice.
Yes, return again.
My cause is righteous.
30 Is there iniquity on my tongue?
Can my taste not discern perverse things?”