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Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

Then Job answered:

“O that my vexation were weighed
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!(A)
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.(B)
For the arrows of the Almighty[a] are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.(C)
Does the wild ass bray over its grass
    or the ox low over its fodder?
Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
    or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?[b]
My appetite refuses to touch them;
    they are like food that is loathsome to me.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. 6.4 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  2. 6.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  3. 6.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain

Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

Then Job spoke again:

“If my misery could be weighed
    and my troubles be put on the scales,
they would outweigh all the sands of the sea.
    That is why I spoke impulsively.
For the Almighty has struck me down with his arrows.
    Their poison infects my spirit.
    God’s terrors are lined up against me.
Don’t I have a right to complain?
    Don’t wild donkeys bray when they find no grass,
    and oxen bellow when they have no food?
Don’t people complain about unsalted food?
    Does anyone want the tasteless white of an egg?[a]
My appetite disappears when I look at it;
    I gag at the thought of eating it!

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Footnotes

  1. 6:6 Or the tasteless juice of the mallow plant?