Job 6

Job’s Friends Are No Help

1 Then Job responded,

2 “ ^aOh if only my grief were actually weighed
And laid in the balances together with my disaster!
3 “For then it would be ^bheavier than the sand of the seas;
For that reason my words have been rash.
4 “For the ^carrows of the Almighty are within me,
▼

▼Lit Whose poison my spirit drinks

My spirit drinks their ^epoison;
The ^fterrors of God line up against me.
5 “Does the ^gwild donkey bray over his grass,
Or does the ox low over his feed?
6 “Can something tasteless be eaten without salt,
Or is there any taste in the ▼

▼Heb hallamuth, meaning uncertain

juice of an alkanet plant?
7 “My soul ⁱrefuses to touch them;
They are like loathsome food to me.

8 “Oh, that my request might come to pass,
And that God would grant my hope!
9 “Oh, that God would ^jdecide to crush me,
That He would let loose His hand and cut me off!
10 “But it is still my comfort,
And I rejoice in unsparing pain,
That I ^khave not ▼

▼Lit hidden

denied the words of the Holy One.
11 “What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should ▼

▼Lit prolong my soul

, ⁿendure?
12 “Is my strength the strength of stones,
Or is my flesh bronze?
13 “Is it that my ^ohelp is not within me,
And that a ^pgood outcome is driven away from me?

14 “For the ^qdespairing man there should be kindness from his friend;
So that he does not ^rabandon the ▼

▼Or reverence for

fear of the Almighty.
15 “My brothers have acted ^tdeceitfully like a ▼

▼I.e., dry stream bed(s), except in the rainy season

wadi,
Like the torrents of ▼

▼I.e., dry stream bed(s), except in the rainy season

wadis which drain away,
16 Which are darkened because of ice,
And into which the snow ▼

▼Lit hides itself

melts.
17 “When ^xthey dry up, they vanish;
When it is hot, they disappear from their place.
18 “The ▼

▼Or caravans turn from their course, they go up into the waste and perish

paths of their course wind along,
They go up into wasteland and perish.
19 “The caravans of ^zTema looked,
The travelers of ^aaSheba hoped for them.
20 “They ^abwere put to shame, for they had trusted,
They came there and were humiliated.
21 “Indeed, you have now become such,
^acYou see terrors and are afraid.
22 “Have I said, ‘Give me something,’
Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’
23 Or, ‘Save me from the hand of the enemy,’
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants’?

24 “Teach me, and ^adI will be silent;
And show me how I have done wrong.
25 “How painful are honest words!
But what does your argument prove?
26 “Do you intend to rebuke my words,
When the ^aewords of one in despair belong to the wind?
27 “You would even ^afcast lots for ^agthe orphans,
And ^ahbarter over your friend.
28 “Now please look at me,
And see if I am ^ailying to your face.
29 “Please turn away, let there be no injustice;
Turn away, ^ajmy righteousness is still in it.
30 “Is there injustice on my tongue?
Does ^akmy palate not discern disasters?