Job 6 — Legacy Standard Bible

Job Answers Eliphaz

6Then Job answered and said,

²“^aOh that my vexation were actually weighedAnd laid in the balances together with my destruction!³“For then it would be ^aheavier than the sand of the seas;Therefore my words have been rash.⁴“For the ^aarrows of the Almighty are within me,¹Their ^bpoison my spirit drinks;The ^chorrors of God are arranged against me.⁵“Does the ^awild donkey bray over his grass,Or does the ox low over his fodder?⁶“Can something tasteless be eaten without salt,Or is there any taste in the slime of a ¹yolk?⁷“My soul ^arefuses to touch them;They are like loathsome food to me.⁸“Oh that my request might come to pass,And that God would grant my hope!⁹“Would that God were ^awilling to crush me,That He would release His hand and cut me off!¹⁰“But it is still my comfort,And I rejoice in unsparing pain,That I ^ahave not at all hidden away the words of the Holy One.¹¹“What is my strength, that I should wait?And what is my end, that I should ¹^,^aendure?¹²“Is my strength the strength of stones,Or is my flesh bronze?¹³“Is it that there is no ^ahelp within me,And that the ¹^,^bsuccess of sound wisdom is driven from me?¹⁴“For the ^adespairing man lovingkindness should be from his friend;But he ^bforsakes the ¹fear of the Almighty.¹⁵“My brothers have ^abetrayed me like a ¹wadi,Like the torrents of ²wadis which pass away,¹⁶Which grow dark because of iceAnd upon which the snow hides itself.¹⁷“When ^athey become waterless, they ¹are silent;When it is hot, they vanish from their place.¹⁸“The ¹paths of their course wind along;They go up into a formless place and perish.¹⁹“The caravans of ^aTema looked;The travelers of ^bSheba hoped for them.²⁰“They ^awere ashamed for they had trusted;They came there and were humiliated.²¹“Indeed, you have now become such;^aYou see a terror and are afraid.²²“Have I said, ‘Give me something,’Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’²³Or, ‘Give me escape from the hand of the adversary,’Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless men’?²⁴“Instruct me, and ^aI will be silent;And cause me to understand how I have erred.²⁵“How painful are upright words!But what does your reproof prove?²⁶“Do you think to reprove my words,Or think of the ^awords of one in despair as wind?²⁷“You would even ^acast lots for ^bthe orphansAnd ^cbargain over your friend.²⁸“So now be willing to face me,And see if I ^alie to your face.²⁹“Now turn from this, let there be no unrighteousness;Even turn from this, ^amy righteousness is yet in it.³⁰“Is there unrighteousness on my tongue?Cannot ^amy palate discern ¹destruction?