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Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

But Job answered:

“Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,
    and my calamity laid with it on the scales!
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words are stuck in my throat.
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me;
    my spirit drinks in their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?
    Or the ox bellow over his fodder?
Is tasteless food eaten without salt?
    Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
My soul refuses to touch them;
    they are like loathsome food to me.

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Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

Then[a] Job answered and said,

“If only my vexation could be well weighed,
and my calamity could be lifted up together with it in the balances,
for then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;
therefore my words have been rash,
for the arrows of Shaddai are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Does the wild ass bray over grass,
or the ox bellow over its fodder?
Can tasteless food be eaten without[b] salt,
or is there taste in the white of a marshmallow plant?
I refused[c] to touch them;
they are like food that will make me ill.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Job 6:1 Hebrew “And”
  2. Job 6:6 Hebrew “from without”
  3. Job 6:7 Literally “My soul/throat refuses”
  4. Job 6:7 Literally “the illness of my bread/food”

Job

Then Job replied:

“If only my anguish could be weighed
    and all my misery be placed on the scales!(A)
It would surely outweigh the sand(B) of the seas—
    no wonder my words have been impetuous.(C)
The arrows(D) of the Almighty(E) are in me,(F)
    my spirit drinks(G) in their poison;(H)
    God’s terrors(I) are marshaled against me.(J)
Does a wild donkey(K) bray(L) when it has grass,
    or an ox bellow when it has fodder?(M)
Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
    or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow[a]?(N)
I refuse to touch it;
    such food makes me ill.(O)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 6:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.