Job 6-7
Evangelical Heritage Version
Round One: Job’s Second Speech
6 Then Job responded:
2 If only my grief could be weighed,
and my devastation placed on the scales with it!
3 They would certainly weigh more than the sand of the sea!
No wonder my words have been rash.[a]
4 The arrows of the Almighty stick in me.
My spirit drinks in their poison.
The terrors of God are lined up against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when it has green grass?
Does the ox bellow when it is near its fodder?
6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt?
Is there flavor in the white of an egg?[b]
7 I absolutely refuse to touch it.
It is no better than sickening food.
8 If only my request would be granted.
If only God would grant me what I hope for:
9 that God would decide to crush me,
that he would unleash his hand and cut me off.
10 For then I would still have this comfort:
Even as I writhe in relentless pain,[c]
I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What strength do I have to wait hopefully?
What end awaits me that would make me want to prolong my life?
12 Is my strength like stone,
or is my flesh bronze?
13 Certainly I have no power to help myself,
since the hope that I can recover has been driven far away from me.
14 A despairing person should receive loyalty[d] from his friends,
even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 But my brothers are as undependable as gullies that dry up,
undependable as seasonal streams which overflow
16 when they are darkened by ice and swollen with melting snow,
17 but as quickly as they flood, they dry up in the scorching winds.[e]
When it gets hot, they vanish from their channels.
18 Caravans turn aside from their routes.
They go off into the empty wasteland and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema search for these streams.
The travelers of Sheba hope to find them,
20 but despite being confident, they are disappointed.
They arrive there only to be frustrated.
21 Now that is what you are like!
You have seen something dreadful and you panic.
22 Have I said, “Give me something,
or offer a payment on my behalf from your wealth”?
23 Have I said, “Save me from the hand of my enemy,
or redeem me from the hand of the ruthless”?
24 Teach me and I will be silent.
Help me understand what I have done wrong.
25 How painful honest words are!
But what does your rebuke prove?
26 Do you intend to attack me for mere words
by treating things said by a despairing man like wind?[f]
27 No doubt you would even cast lots for a fatherless child
and barter away your friend!
28 But now, please look at me.
I would not lie to your face!
29 Turn to me,[g] and get rid of injustice.
Turn to me. My righteousness is still intact.[h]
30 Is there any injustice on my tongue?
Wouldn’t my mouth detect it if I were speaking destructive words?[i]
7 Isn’t man’s time on earth like being compelled to serve in the army? Aren’t his days like those of a hired man?
2 Like a slave, he longs for shade,
or like a day laborer, he waits for his pay.
3 In the same way, I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of agony have been assigned to me.
4 When I lie down, I think, “How long before I get up?”
But the night drags on,
and I am filled with restlessness until dawn.
5 My flesh is clothed with maggots and caked with dirt.
My skin scabs over and then oozes again.
6 My days pass by more swiftly than the shuttle of a weaver’s loom.
They come to an end without hope.
Job Addresses God
7 Remember that my life is just a breath.[j]
My eyes will never again see good fortune.
8 The eyes that see me now will no longer watch me.
Your eyes will look for me, but I will not be there.
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so does the one who goes down to the grave.[k]
He does not come back up again.
10 He never again returns to his home,
and his place will no longer know him.
11 That is why I will not restrain my mouth.
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit.
I will lament in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea or a great creature of the deep
that you need to put me under guard?
13 When I say that my bed will comfort me,
and my couch will help me with my lament,
14 then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15 so I would prefer to be strangled,
and I prefer death more than my current existence.[l]
16 I reject my life. I do not want to live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are just a vanishing vapor.
17 What is man that you make so much of him,
that you pay so much attention to him,
18 that you inspect[m] him every morning
and test him every minute?
19 Why do you never stop watching me?
Why don’t you leave me alone long enough for me to swallow my spit?
20 If I have sinned, what harm has it done to you,
you who keep watch on mankind?
Why have you set me up as your target?
How have I become a burden to you?[n]
21 Why do you not forgive my rebellion?
Why do you not take away my guilt?
Soon I will lie down in the dust.
You will search for me, but I will not be there.
Footnotes
- Job 6:3 Or reckless
- Job 6:6 Another suggestion is that this term refers to the sap of some plant. In either case, the meaning remains the same: a tasteless, unappetizing substance.
- Job 6:10 An alternative translation is I would be joyful even in relentless pain.
- Job 6:14 Or mercy
- Job 6:17 6-17 These lines are difficult.
- Job 6:26 This verse is difficult.
- Job 6:29 Or try again
- Job 6:29 Or my righteousness is at stake
- Job 6:30 This line is difficult.
- Job 7:7 This verse begins a new section of Job’s speech. For the rest of the chapter, Job is no longer speaking to Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, but directly to God. This happens often in Job’s speeches.
- Job 7:9 Hebrew sheol
- Job 7:15 Literally than my bones
- Job 7:18 Or scrutinize
- Job 7:20 To you is an alternate reading of the Hebrew text. The main Hebrew text reads to me.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.