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Then Job answered,

“Oh that my anguish were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas,
    therefore my words have been rash.
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me.
    My spirit drinks up their poison.
The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
    Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?
Or does the ox low over his fodder?
    Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
    My soul refuses to touch them.
They are as loathsome food to me.

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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.”

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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