Job 6
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
6 Then Job answered:
2 “O that my vexation were weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
4 For 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 ass 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 slime of the purslane?[a]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are as food that is loathsome to me.[b]
8 “O that I might have my request,
and that God would grant my desire;
9 that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 This would be my consolation;
I would even exult[c] in pain unsparing;
for I have not denied the words of 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 In truth I have no help in me,
and any resource is driven from me.
14 “He who withholds[d] kindness from a friend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brethren are treacherous as a torrent-bed,
as freshets that pass away,
16 which are dark with ice,
and where the snow hides itself.
17 In time of heat they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste, and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema look,
the travelers of Sheba hope.
20 They are disappointed because they were confident;
they come thither and are confounded.
21 Such you have now become to me;[e]
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, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have erred.
25 How forceful are honest words!
But what does reproof from you reprove?
26 Do you think that you can reprove words,
when the speech of a despairing man is wind?
27 You would even cast lots over the fatherless,
and bargain over your friend.
28 “But now, be pleased to look at me;
for I will not lie to your face.
29 Turn, I pray, let no wrong be done.
Turn now, my vindication is at stake.
30 Is there any wrong on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern calamity?
Job 6
EasyEnglish Bible
Job replies to Eliphaz[a]
6 Then Job replied:
2 ‘I am so upset that nobody could measure it!
My problems are too many to weigh!
3 They are heavier than all the sand on the shore of the sea.
That is why I did not think carefully before I spoke.
4 Almighty God has shot his arrows into me.
Their poison is now deep inside me.
God has sent me many troubles that make me afraid.
5 A wild donkey does not complain when it has grass to eat.
An ox is quiet when it has its food.
6 You cannot enjoy food that has no salt in it.
The white part of an egg is not nice to eat on its own.
7 I cannot eat that kind of food.
It makes me ill.
8 I want God to give me what I ask him for.
I want him to answer my prayer.
9 I would like him to destroy me.
He should kill me himself.
10 Then I would have peace.
I would be happy.
I have received much cruel pain.
But I have always obeyed the words of the holy God.
11 I am not strong enough to hope for my life to become any better.
There is no reason for me to continue my life.
12 I am not as strong as stones.
My body is not strong like bronze.
13 I no longer have strength to help myself.
There is nowhere that I can go to get help.
14 When a man has no hope,
his friends should be kind to him.
They should help him,
even if he no longer respects God Almighty.
15 But you, my friends, have not helped me when I need you.
You are like streams that quickly become dry.
There is no water when you need it.
16 In the spring, ice and deep snow covers them.
17 But in the hot summer time, all the water disappears.
Those streams become completely dry.
18 Travellers leave the road to look for water.
They find no water to drink and they die in the desert.
19 Travellers from Tema look everywhere for these streams.
Traders from Sheba hope to find water.
20 They are very upset, because they expected to find water.
But when they arrive, they are disappointed.
21 My friends, you have become like those streams.
You see my great problem, and you are afraid.
22 I have never said to you, “Give me something to help me.
Please use some of your money to rescue me.”
23 I have not asked you to save me from the power of my enemy.
Or to pay cruel people to let me go free.
24 Teach me the truth, and I will listen carefully.
Explain to me the mistakes that I have made.
25 True words may give pain to the person who listens to them.
But the things that you say against me mean nothing.
26 You are warning me because of what I say.
I have no hope and you think that my words are empty.
27 You would play a game to win a child who has no family.
You would even sell your friends to become rich yourselves.
28 But now, please look at me.
I will not tell you any lies.
29 Change what you are saying about me.
Do not say that I am guilty.
Think again, for I am truly a good person.
30 I have not spoken any lies.
I know what is right and what is wrong.
Footnotes
- 6:1 Job tells Eliphaz that he wants to know the reason for his trouble. He is not a bad person who has done wrong things. His friends have not helped him to understand why God has punished him like this.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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