Job 6-7

New International Reader's Version

² “I wish my great pain could be weighed!
    I wish all my suffering could be weighed on scales!
³ I’m sure it would weigh more than the grains of sand on the seashore.
    No wonder I’ve been so quick to speak!
⁴ The Mighty One has shot me with his arrows.
    I have to drink their poison.
    God’s terrors are aimed at me.
⁵ Does a wild donkey cry out when it has enough grass?
    Does an ox call out when it has plenty of food?
⁶ Is food that doesn’t have any taste eaten without salt?
    Is there any flavor in the sap of a mallow plant?
⁷ I refuse to touch that kind of food.
    It makes me sick.

⁸ “I wish I could have what I’m asking for!
    I wish God would give me what I’m hoping for!
⁹ I wish he would crush me!
    I wish he would just cut off my life!
¹⁰ Then I’d still have one thing to comfort me.
    It would be that I haven’t said no to the Holy One’s commands.
    That would give me joy in spite of my pain that never ends.

¹¹ “I’m so weak that I no longer have any hope.
    Things have gotten so bad that I can’t wait for help anymore.
¹² Am I as strong as stone?
    Is my body made out of bronze?
¹³ I don’t have the power to help myself.
    All hope of success has been taken away from me.

¹⁴ “A person shouldn’t stop being kind to a friend.
    Anyone who does that stops showing respect for the Mighty One.
¹⁵ But my friends have stopped being kind to me.
    They are like streams that only flow for part of the year.
    They are like rivers that flow over their banks
¹⁶ when the ice begins to break up.
    The streams rise when the snow starts to melt.
¹⁷ But they stop flowing when the dry season comes.
    They disappear from their stream beds when the weather warms up.
¹⁸ Groups of traders turn away from their usual paths.
    They go off into the dry and empty land.
    And they die there.
¹⁹ Traders from Tema look for water.
    Traveling merchants from Sheba also hope to find it.
²⁰ They become troubled because they had expected to find some.
    But when they arrive at the stream beds,
    they don’t find any water at all.
²¹ And now, my friends, you haven’t helped me either.
    You see the horrible condition I’m in.
    And that makes you afraid.
²² I’ve never said, ‘Give me something to help me.
    Use your wealth to set me free.
²³ Save me from the power of my enemy.
    Rescue me from the power of mean people.’

²⁴ “Teach me. Then I’ll be quiet.
    Show me what I’ve done wrong.
²⁵ Honest words are so painful!
    But your reasoning doesn’t prove anything.
²⁶ Are you trying to correct what I’m saying?
    Are you treating my hopeless words like nothing but wind?
²⁷ You would even cast lots for those whose fathers have died.
    You would even trade away your closest friend.

²⁸ “But now please look at me.
    Would I tell you a lie right here in front of you?
²⁹ Stop what you are saying. Don’t be so unfair.
    Think it over again.
    You are trying to take my honesty away from me.
³⁰ Has my mouth spoken anything that is evil?
    Do my lips say things that are hateful?”

“Don’t all human beings have to work hard on this earth?
    Aren’t their days like the days of hired workers?
² I’ve been like a slave
    who longs for the evening shadows to come.
I’ve been like a hired worker
    who is waiting to be paid.
³ I’ve been given several months that were useless to me.
    My nights have been filled with suffering.
⁴ When I lie down I think,
    ‘How long will it be before I can get up?’
The night drags on.
    I toss and turn until sunrise.
⁵ My body is covered with worms and sores.
    My skin is broken. It has boils all over it.

⁶ “My days pass by faster than a weaver can work.
    They come to an end. I don’t have any hope.
⁷ God, remember that my life is only a breath.
    I’ll never be happy again.
⁸ The eyes that see me now won’t see me anymore.
    You will look for me. But I’ll be gone.
⁹ When a cloud disappears, it’s gone forever.
    And anyone who goes down to the grave never returns.
¹⁰ He never comes home again.
    Even his own family doesn’t remember him.

¹¹ “So I won’t keep quiet.
    When I’m suffering greatly, I’ll speak out.
    When my spirit is bitter, I’ll tell you how unhappy I am.
¹² Am I the ocean? Am I the sea monster?
    If I’m not, why do you guard me so closely?
¹³ Sometimes I think my bed will comfort me.
    I think my couch will keep me from being unhappy.
¹⁴ But even then you send me dreams that frighten me.
    You send me visions that terrify me.
¹⁵ So I would rather choke to death.
    That would be better than living in this body of mine.
¹⁶ I hate my life. I don’t want to live forever.
    Leave me alone. My days don’t mean anything to me.

¹⁷ “What are human beings that you think so much of them?
    What are they that you pay so much attention to them?
¹⁸ You check up on them every morning.
    You test them every moment.
¹⁹ Won’t you ever look away from me?
    Won’t you leave me alone even for one second?
²⁰ If I’ve really sinned, tell me what I’ve done to you.
    You see everything we do.
Why do you shoot your arrows at me?
    Have I become a problem to you?
²¹ Why don’t you forgive the wrong things I’ve done?
    Why don’t you forgive me for my sins?
I’ll soon lie down in the dust of my grave.
    You will search for me. But I’ll be gone.”