1 Job’s Friends Are No Help Then Job answered and said,
2 “Oh, that my grief could actually be weighedAnd placed in the balances together with my tragedy [to see if my grief is the grief of a coward]!
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;Therefore my words have been incoherent,
4 Because the arrows of the Almighty are within me,My spirit drinks their poison;The terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?Or does the ox low over his fodder?
6 Can something that has no taste to it be eaten without salt?Or is there any flavor in the white of an egg?
7 My soul refuses to touch them;Such things are like loathsome food to me [sickening and repugnant].
8 “Oh that my request would come to pass,And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9 I wish that it would please God to crush me,That He would let loose His hand and cut me off.
10 Then I would still have consolation,And I would jump for joy amid unsparing pain,That I have not deniedorhidden the words of the Holy One.
11 What strength do I have left, that I should wait [and hope]?And what is ahead of me, that I should be patientandendure?
12 Is my strengthandendurance that of stones,Or is my flesh made of bronze?
13 Is it that I have no help within myself,And that successandwisdom have been driven from me?
14 “For the despairing manthere should bekindness from his friend;So that he does notLit forsake.abandon (turn away from) the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brothers have acted deceitfully like a brook,Like the torrents of brooks that vanish,
16 Which are dullanddirty because of ice,And into which the snow meltsandhides itself;
17 When it is warm, they are silentandcease to flow;When it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The paths of their course wind along,They go up into nothingandperish.[Your counsel is as helpful to me as a dry streambed in the heat of summer.]
19 The caravans ofTema, tribal descendants of the ninth son of Ishmael.Tema looked [for water],The caravans ofSheba, tribal descendants of Abraham and Keturah.Sheba waited for them [in vain].
20 They were put to shameanddisappointed because they had trusted [that they would find water];They came there and were ashamed.
21 Indeed, you have now become like a dried-up stream,You see a terror [believing me to be a victim of the wrath of God] and are afraid [to be compassionate].
22 Did I ever say, ‘Give mesomething,’Or, ‘Pay a bribe for me from your wealth,’
23 Or, ‘Rescue me from the adversary’s hand,’Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;And show me how I have erred.
25 How painful are words of honesty.But what does your argument prove?
26 Do you intend to reprove my words [with a convincing argument],When the words of one in despair belong to the wind [and go ignored]?
27 You would castlots(gamble) over the fatherlessAnd bargain away your friend.
28 Now please look at me,Andseeif I lie to your face [for you know that I would not].
29 Turn away [from your suspicion], let there be no injustice;Turn away, my righteousnessandvindication is still in it.
30 Is there injusticeormalice on my tongue?Can my palate not discern what is destructive?