Job 6

1 Then Job answered,

Then Job spoke again, saying [to Eliphaz],

2 “Oh that my anguish were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!

“If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,

3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, therefore my words have been rash.

they would be heavier than all the sands [on the shores] of the oceans. That is why I spoke (very rashly/without thinking clearly) [about the day that I was born].

4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.

[It is as though] Almighty [God] has shot me with arrows. [It is as though] those arrows had poison on their tips, and that poison has gone into my spirit. The things that God has done to me have terrified me.

5 Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder?

Just like a wild donkey does not [complain by] braying when it has plenty of grass to eat, and an ox does not [complain by] bellowing when it has food to eat [MET], [I would not complain if you were really helping/comforting me].

6 Can that which has no flavour be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

People complain [RHQ] when they must eat food which has no salt or other tasteless food [MET], [and that is what your words are like, Eliphaz].

7 My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me.

Just like I do not want to eat food [like that], and I loathe/detests that kind of food [MET], [I do not appreciate what you have said to me].

8 “Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for,

“I wish that God would do for me what I have requested from him [DOU].

9 even that it would please God to crush me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

I wish that he would crush me [and let me die]. I wish that he would reach out his hand and take away my life.

10 Let it still be my consolation, yes, let me exult in pain that doesn’t spare, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

If he would do that, I would be comforted by knowing that in spite of the great pain that I have suffered, I have always obeyed what [God, ] the Holy One, has commanded.

11 What is my strength, that I should wait? What is my end, that I should be patient?

But now I do not have [RHQ] enough strength to endure all these things. And since I have nothing [to hope for] in (the future/this life), it is difficult for me to be patient now [RHQ].

12 Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of bronze?

I am not [RHQ] strong like rocks are, and my body is not made of bronze.

13 Isn’t it that I have no help in me, that wisdom is driven away from me?

So I am not able to help myself, and [it seems that] there is no one to rescue me.”

14 “To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

“When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him, even if he stops revering Almighty [God].

15 My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away;

But [you, ] my friends, are not dependable. You are like streams: They spill over their banks [in the spring]

16 which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself.

when [the melting] ice and snow make those streams overflow,

17 In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing [in those streams], and the channels dry up.

18 The caravans that travel beside them turn away. They go up into the waste, and perish.

[The caravans of merchants] turn off the path [to search for some water], but there is no water, so they die [in the desert].

19 The caravans of Tema looked. The companies of Sheba waited for them.

The men in those caravans search [for some water] because they are sure that they will find some.

20 They were distressed because they were confident. They came there, and were confounded.

But they do not find any, so they are very disappointed.

21 For now you are nothing. You see a terror, and are afraid.

Similarly, you friends have not helped me at all! You have seen that terrible things have happened to me, and you are afraid [that God might do similar things to you].

22 Did I ever say, ‘Give to me’? or, ‘Offer a present for me from your substance’?

[After I lost all my wealth, ] did I ask any of you for money? [RHQ] Did I plead with any of you to spend some of your money to help me [RHQ]?

23 or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’? or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors’?

Have I asked any of you to rescue me from my enemies [RHQ]? Have I asked you to save me from those who (oppressed me/treated me badly) [RHQ]? [No!]”

24 “Teach me, and I will hold my peace. Cause me to understand my error.

“Answer me [now, and then] I will be quiet; tell me what wrong things I have done!

25 How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove?

When people speak what is true, that will not hurt the person who hears it, but what you say, criticizing me, [is not true, so your saying it] proves nothing [RHQ]!

26 Do you intend to reprove words, since the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind?

I am a man who has nothing to hope for, but you try to correct me, and you think what I say is nothing but wind [RHQ]!

27 Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.

You do not sympathize with me at all [for all that I am suffering]. [You are heartless!] You would even gamble to see who gets an orphan [as a prize]!

28 Now therefore be pleased to look at me, for surely I will not lie to your face.

Please look at me! I will not [RHQ] lie to you.

29 Please return. Let there be no injustice. Yes, return again. My cause is righteous.

Stop [saying that I have sinned, and] stop criticizing me unjustly! You should realize that I have not done things that are wrong.

30 Is there injustice on my tongue? Can’t my taste discern mischievous things?

Do you think that I am lying? No, I am not lying, because I know what is right and what is wrong [RHQ].”