62 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
62 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 6
|
||
1 Then Job answered:
|
||
2 If only my grief could be weighed
|
||
and my devastation placed with it on the scales.
|
||
3 For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas!
|
||
That is why my words are rash.
|
||
4 Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me;
|
||
my spirit drinks their poison.
|
||
God’s terrors are arrayed against me.
|
||
5 Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass
|
||
or an ox low over its fodder?
|
||
6 Is bland food eaten without salt?
|
||
Is there flavor in an egg white?
|
||
7 I refuse to touch them;
|
||
they are like contaminated food.
|
||
8 If only my request would be granted
|
||
and God would provide what I hope for:
|
||
9 that he would decide to crush me,
|
||
to unleash his power and cut me off!
|
||
10 It would still bring me comfort,
|
||
and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain
|
||
that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
|
||
11 What strength do I have, that I should continue to hope?
|
||
What is my future, that I should be patient?
|
||
12 Is my strength that of stone,
|
||
or my flesh made of bronze?
|
||
13 Since I cannot help myself,
|
||
the hope for success has been banished from me.
|
||
14 A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends,
|
||
even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.
|
||
15 My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi,
|
||
as seasonal streams that overflow
|
||
16 and become darkened because of ice,
|
||
and the snow melts into them.
|
||
17 The wadis evaporate in warm weather;
|
||
they disappear from their channels in hot weather.
|
||
18 Caravans turn away from their routes,
|
||
go up into the desert, and perish.
|
||
19 The caravans of Tema look for these streams.
|
||
The traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.
|
||
20 They are ashamed because they had been confident of finding water.
|
||
When they arrive there, they are disappointed.
|
||
21 So this is what you have now become to me.
|
||
When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.
|
||
22 Have I ever said, “Give me something”
|
||
or “Pay a bribe for me from your wealth”
|
||
23 or “Deliver me from the enemy’s hand”
|
||
or “Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless”?
|
||
24 Teach me, and I will be silent.
|
||
Help me understand what I did wrong.
|
||
25 How painful honest words can be!
|
||
But what does your rebuke prove?
|
||
26 Do you think that you can disprove my words
|
||
or that a despairing man’s words are mere wind?
|
||
27 No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child
|
||
and negotiate a price to sell your friend.
|
||
28 But now, please look at me;
|
||
I will not lie to your face.
|
||
29 Reconsider; don’t be unjust.
|
||
Reconsider; my righteousness is still the issue.
|
||
30 Is there injustice on my tongue
|
||
or can my palate not taste disaster? |