Job’s Reply to Eliphaz

Then Job answered:

If only my grief could be weighed
and my devastation(A) placed with it in the scales.(B)
For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas!
That is why my words are rash.
Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced[a] me;
my spirit drinks their poison.
God’s terrors are arrayed against me.(C)
Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass
or an ox low over its fodder?
Is bland food eaten without salt?
Is there flavor in an egg white?[b]
I refuse to touch them;
they are like contaminated food.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 6:4 Lit Almighty are in
  2. Job 6:6 Hb obscure

Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

Then[a] Job answered and said,

“If only my vexation could be well weighed,
and my calamity could be lifted up together with it in the balances,
for then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;
therefore my words have been rash,
for the arrows of Shaddai are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Does the wild ass bray over grass,
or the ox bellow over its fodder?
Can tasteless food be eaten without[b] salt,
or is there taste in the white of a marshmallow plant?
I refused[c] to touch them;
they are like food that will make me ill.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Job 6:1 Hebrew “And”
  2. Job 6:6 Hebrew “from without”
  3. Job 6:7 Literally “My soul/throat refuses”
  4. Job 6:7 Literally “the illness of my bread/food”