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Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

Then Job answered:

“O that my vexation were weighed
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!(A)
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.(B)
For the arrows of the Almighty[a] are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.(C)
Does the wild ass bray over its grass
    or the ox low over its fodder?
Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
    or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?[b]
My appetite refuses to touch them;
    they are like food that is loathsome to me.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. 6.4 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  2. 6.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  3. 6.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain

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.

But Job answered and said,

Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.

For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?

Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.

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