151 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
151 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
Job's Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
|
|
|
|
# Chapter 6
|
|
1. Then Job spoke again:
|
|
|
|
2. "If my misery could be weighed
|
|
|
|
and my troubles be put on the scales,
|
|
|
|
|
|
3. they would outweigh all the sands of the sea.
|
|
|
|
That is why I spoke impulsively.
|
|
|
|
|
|
4. For the Almighty has struck me down with his arrows.
|
|
|
|
Their poison infects my spirit.
|
|
|
|
God's terrors are lined up against me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
5. 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?
|
|
|
|
|
|
6. Don't people complain about unsalted food?
|
|
Does anyone want the tasteless white of an egg?
|
|
|
|
7. My appetite disappears when I look at it;
|
|
|
|
I gag at the thought of eating it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
8. "Oh, that I might have my request,
|
|
|
|
that God would grant my desire.
|
|
|
|
|
|
9. I wish he would crush me.
|
|
|
|
I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
10. At least I can take comfort in this:
|
|
|
|
Despite the pain,
|
|
|
|
I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
|
|
|
|
|
|
11. But I don't have the strength to endure.
|
|
|
|
I have nothing to live for.
|
|
|
|
|
|
12. Do I have the strength of a stone?
|
|
|
|
Is my body made of bronze?
|
|
|
|
|
|
13. No, I am utterly helpless,
|
|
|
|
without any chance of success.
|
|
|
|
|
|
14. "One should be kind to a fainting friend,
|
|
but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty.
|
|
|
|
15. My brothers, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook
|
|
|
|
that overflows its banks in the spring
|
|
|
|
|
|
16. when it is swollen with ice and melting snow.
|
|
|
|
17. But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears.
|
|
|
|
The brook vanishes in the heat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
18. The caravans turn aside to be refreshed,
|
|
|
|
but there is nothing to drink, so they die.
|
|
|
|
|
|
19. The caravans from Tema search for this water;
|
|
|
|
the travelers from Sheba hope to find it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
20. They count on it but are disappointed.
|
|
|
|
When they arrive, their hopes are dashed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
21. You, too, have given no help.
|
|
|
|
You have seen my calamity, and you are afraid.
|
|
|
|
|
|
22. But why? Have I ever asked you for a gift?
|
|
|
|
Have I begged for anything of yours for myself?
|
|
|
|
|
|
23. Have I asked you to rescue me from my enemies,
|
|
|
|
or to save me from ruthless people?
|
|
|
|
|
|
24. Teach me, and I will keep quiet.
|
|
|
|
Show me what I have done wrong.
|
|
|
|
|
|
25. Honest words can be painful,
|
|
|
|
but what do your criticisms amount to?
|
|
|
|
|
|
26. Do you think your words are convincing
|
|
|
|
when you disregard my cry of desperation?
|
|
|
|
|
|
27. You would even send an orphan into slavery
|
|
|
|
or sell a friend.
|
|
|
|
|
|
28. Look at me!
|
|
|
|
Would I lie to your face?
|
|
|
|
|
|
29. Stop assuming my guilt,
|
|
|
|
for I have done no wrong.
|
|
|
|
|
|
30. Do you think I am lying?
|
|
|
|
Don't I know the difference between right and wrong?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|