Job’s Friends Are No Help

Then Job responded,

(A)Oh if only my grief were actually weighed
And laid in the balances together with my disaster!
For then it would be (B)heavier than the sand of the seas;
For that reason my words have been rash.
For the (C)arrows of the Almighty are within me,
[a]My spirit drinks their (D)poison;
The (E)terrors of God line up against me.
Does the (F)wild donkey bray over his grass,
Or does the ox low over his feed?
Can something tasteless be eaten without salt,
Or is there any taste in the [b]juice of an alkanet plant?
My soul (G)refuses to touch them;
They are like loathsome food to me.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Job 6:4 Lit Whose poison my spirit drinks
  2. Job 6:6 Heb hallamuth, meaning uncertain

Job’s Suffering is Grave

In rebuttal, Job replied:

“If only my grief could be weighed;
    or my calamity piled together on a balance scale!
It would weigh more than the sand on the seashore![a]
    Here’s why I’ve talked so rashly:

“The arrows of the Almighty have pierced me;
    my spirit absorbs[b] their poison;[c]
        God’s terrors have been arranged just for me!

“Will the wild donkey bray from hunger[d] if fresh grass is beside him?
    Will the ox low from distress[e] if it is near its feed?
Tasteless food isn’t eaten without salt, is it?
    Is there any taste in an egg white?
I cannot bring myself to touch them;[f]
    food like this makes me sick.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Job 6:3 Lit. sea
  2. Job 6:4 Lit. drinks
  3. Job 6:4 Lit. heat
  4. Job 6:5 The Heb. lacks from hunger
  5. Job 6:5 The Heb. lacks from distress
  6. Job 6:7 The Heb. lacks them