Job 6
Job replies to Eliphaz ▼▼6:0 Now Job tells Eliphaz that he has not done any wrong things. His friends have disappointed him because they have not been able to help him. And he is angry with God, too.
1Then Job replied: 2‘It is not possible to measure my troubles or to weigh my pains!3If it were possible to weigh them, they would be heavier than all the sand on the shore. That is why I have spoken so quickly. And I did not think before I spoke.
4The Almighty has shot his arrows at me. Their poison is in my body. I am very afraid of what God is going to do to me.
5A wild donkey is quiet when it has grass to eat. An ox does not make a loud noise when it has food.
6You cannot enjoy food that has no salt in it. If you only eat the white part of an egg, it will not be very nice.
7I refuse to eat food like that. Whatever I eat makes me ill.
8God will not give me what I ask for. I want to know why this is. When I pray he does not answer.
9I want to die. And I have prayed that God would kill me. 10I have had much pain. But I know that God is holy. And I have always done what he has told me to do.
So, because I know that, I am ready to die.
11I am not strong enough to hope for a better life. There is no reason why I should be patient.
12I am not as strong as stone. God did not make my body from bronze.
13I am not strong enough to help myself. And there is nowhere that I can go to get help.
14When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him. Friends who are not like that have stopped being afraid to make God angry.
15But, my friends, you are not here to help me when I need you. You are like some rivers. Sometimes there is water and sometimes there is no water.
16In the spring, the sun warms the ice and the snow and there is a lot of water. 17But in the summer, there may be no rain. And the sun is so hot that there is no water.
18Travellers get lost when they go to look for water. They leave the proper paths and they die in the desert.
19Travellers from Tema look for water. People on business from Sheba look for water. But they are all disappointed.
20They are sad, because they had hoped to find water. But when they arrive, they are disappointed.
21You are like those streams. You see what has happened to me. And you are afraid.
22I have never asked you to send me a gift. Nor have I asked you to pay money so that I could be free.
23I have not asked you to save me from my enemy. Nor have I asked you to help me get free from cruel people.
24Tell me things that are true. Then I will be quiet. Tell me if I have done something wrong.
25The true words that an honest man speaks will make the listener sad. You may argue with me. But the things that you say mean nothing.
26You do not believe me when I speak to you. So you should not try to argue with me. There is nothing more that I can hope for in this life. You know that.
27But you would sell to be slaves, children who had no parents. You would even sell your best friend.
28But now, please look at me. I only tell you things that are true.
29Please think again about what you say. Think again. I want people to know that I am an honest man.
30The things that I say are true. I know what is right. And I know what is wrong.’
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