Job 6:1-17

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

² “O that my vexation were weighed
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!^(A)
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.^(B)
4 For the arrows of the Almighty^[a] are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.^(C)
5 Does the wild ass bray over its grass
    or the ox low over its fodder?
⁶ Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
    or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?^[b]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
    they are like food that is loathsome to me.^[c]

⁸ “O that I might have my request
    and that God would grant my desire,^(D)
9 that it would please God to crush me,
    that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!^(E)
10 This would be my consolation;
    I would even exult^[d] in unrelenting pain,
    for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.^(F)
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
    And what is my end, that I should be patient?^(G)
12 Is my strength the strength of stones,
    or is my flesh bronze?
¹³ In truth I have no help in me,
    and any resource is driven from me.^(H)

¹⁴ “Those who withhold^[e] kindness from a friend
    forsake the fear of the Almighty.^[f]
15 My companions are treacherous like a torrent bed,
    like swollen streams that pass away,^(I)
16 that run dark with ice,
    turbid with melting snow.
¹⁷ In time of heat they disappear;
    when it is hot, they vanish from their place.^(J)