1: Then Job answered, 2: "Oh that my anguish were weighed, And all my calamity laid in the balances! 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: My soul refuses to touch them; They are as loathsome food to me. 8: "Oh that I might have my request; That God would grant the thing that I long for! 9: Even that it would please God to crush me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! 10: Be it still my consolation, Yes, let me exult in pain that doesn't 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 brass? 13: Isn't it 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 to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 15: My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, As the channel of brooks that pass away; 16: Which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself: 17: In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. 18: The caravans that travel beside them turn aside; They go up into the waste, and perish. 19: The caravans of Tema looked, The companies of Sheba waited for them. 20: They were put to shame because they had hoped; 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 present for me from your substance?' 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 wherein I have erred. 25: How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove? 26: Do you intend to reprove words, Seeing that the speeches of one who is desperate are as 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 shall not lie to your face. 29: Please return. Let there be no injustice; Yes, return again, my cause is righteous. 30: Is there injustice on my tongue? Can't my taste discern mischievous things?
