Job 6:1-20

English Standard Version

² “Oh that my vexation were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
³ For then it would be heavier than ^(A)the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.
⁴ For ^(B)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?^[a]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
    they are as food that is loathsome to me.^[b]

⁸ “Oh that I might have my request,
    and that God would fulfill my hope,
⁹ that it would ^(C)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^[c] in pain ^(D)unsparing,
    for I have not denied the words of ^(E)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 ^(F)withholds^[d] kindness from a ^(G)friend
    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵ My ^(H)brothers are ^(I)treacherous as a torrent-bed,
    as torrential ^(J)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 ^(K)the waste and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of ^(L)Tema look,
    the travelers of ^(M)Sheba hope.
²⁰ They are ^(N)ashamed because they were confident;
    they come there and are ^(O)disappointed.