Job 6:14-23

New International Reader's Version

¹⁴ “A person shouldn’t stop being kind to a friend.
    Anyone who does that stops showing respect for the Mighty One.
¹⁵ But my friends have stopped being kind to me.
    They are like streams that only flow for part of the year.
    They are like rivers that flow over their banks
¹⁶ when the ice begins to break up.
    The streams rise when the snow starts to melt.
¹⁷ But they stop flowing when the dry season comes.
    They disappear from their stream beds when the weather warms up.
¹⁸ Groups of traders turn away from their usual paths.
    They go off into the dry and empty land.
    And they die there.
¹⁹ Traders from Tema look for water.
    Traveling merchants from Sheba also hope to find it.
²⁰ They become troubled because they had expected to find some.
    But when they arrive at the stream beds,
    they don’t find any water at all.
²¹ And now, my friends, you haven’t helped me either.
    You see the horrible condition I’m in.
    And that makes you afraid.
²² I’ve never said, ‘Give me something to help me.
    Use your wealth to set me free.
²³ Save me from the power of my enemy.
    Rescue me from the power of mean people.’