Job 5:3-6:24

English Standard Version

⁸ “As for me, I would seek God,
    and to God would I commit my cause,
⁹ who ^(E)does great things and ^(F)unsearchable,
    ^(G)marvelous things without number:
¹⁰ he gives ^(H)rain on the earth
    and sends waters on the fields;
¹¹ he ^(I)sets on high those who are lowly,
    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
¹² He ^(J)frustrates the devices of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.
¹³ He ^(K)catches the wise in their own craftiness,
    and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime
    and ^(L)grope at noonday as in the night.
¹⁵ But he ^(M)saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
    and from the hand of the mighty.
¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
    and ^(N)injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷ “Behold, ^(O)blessed is the one whom God reproves;
    therefore ^(P)despise not the discipline of the ^(Q)Almighty.
¹⁸ For he wounds, but he ^(R)binds up;
    he ^(S)shatters, but his hands heal.
¹⁹ He will ^(T)deliver you from six troubles;
    in seven no ^(U)evil^[d] shall touch you.
^20 (V)In famine he will redeem you from death,
    and in war from the power of the sword.
²¹ You shall be ^(W)hidden from the lash of the tongue,
    and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
²² At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
    and shall not fear ^(X)the beasts of the earth.
²³ For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
    and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
²⁴ You shall know that your ^(Y)tent is at peace,
    and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
²⁵ You shall know also that your ^(Z)offspring shall be many,
    and your descendants as ^(AA)the grass of the earth.
²⁶ You shall come to your grave in ^(AB)ripe old age,
    like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
²⁷ Behold, this we have ^(AC)searched out; it is true.
    Hear, and know it for your good.”^[e]

² “Oh that my vexation were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
³ For then it would be heavier than ^(AD)the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.
⁴ For ^(AE)the arrows of the Almighty are in 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 the ox low over his fodder?
⁶ Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
    or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?^[f]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
    they are as food that is loathsome to me.^[g]

⁸ “Oh that I might have my request,
    and that God would fulfill my hope,
⁹ that it would ^(AF)please God to crush me,
    that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
¹⁰ This would be my comfort;
    I would even exult^[h] in pain ^(AG)unsparing,
    for I have not denied the words of ^(AH)the Holy One.
¹¹ What is my strength, that I should wait?
    And what is my end, that I should be patient?
¹² Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
¹³ Have I any help in me,
    when resource is driven from me?

¹⁴ “He who ^(AI)withholds^[i] kindness from a ^(AJ)friend
    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵ My ^(AK)brothers are ^(AL)treacherous as a torrent-bed,
    as torrential ^(AM)streams that pass away,
¹⁶ which are dark with ice,
    and where the snow hides itself.
¹⁷ When they melt, they disappear;
    when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
¹⁸ The caravans turn aside from their course;
    they go up into ^(AN)the waste and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of ^(AO)Tema look,
    the travelers of ^(AP)Sheba hope.
²⁰ They are ^(AQ)ashamed because they were confident;
    they come there and are ^(AR)disappointed.
²¹ For you have now become nothing;
    you see my calamity and are afraid.
²² Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
    Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
²³ Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary's hand’?
    Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of ^(AS)the ruthless’?

²⁴ “Teach me, and I will be silent;
    make me understand how I have gone astray.