Job 6-9

Common English Bible

² Oh, that my grief were actually weighed,
    all of it were lifted up in scales;
³     for now it’s heavier than the sands of the sea;
        therefore, my words are rash.^[a]
4 The Almighty’s arrows are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison,
    and God’s terrors are arrayed against me.
⁵ Does a donkey bray over grass
    or an ox bellow over its fodder?
⁶ Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
    or does egg white^[b] have taste?
⁷ I refuse to touch them;
    they resemble food for the sick.

⁸ Oh, that what I’ve requested would come
        and God grant my hope;
⁹     that God be willing to crush me,
    release his hand and cut me off.
¹⁰ I’d still take comfort,
    relieved^[c] even though in persistent pain;
        for I’ve not denied the words of the holy one.
¹¹ What is my strength, that I should hope;
    my end, that my life should drag on?
¹² Is my strength that of rocks,
    my flesh bronze?
¹³ I don’t have a helper for myself;
    success has been taken from me.

¹⁴ Are friends loyal to the one who despairs,^[d]
    or do they stop fearing the Almighty?
¹⁵ My companions are treacherous like a stream in the desert,
    like channels that overrun their streambeds,
¹⁶     like those darkened by thawing ice,
        in which snow is obscured
¹⁷     but that stop flowing in dry times
        and vanish from their channels in heat.
¹⁸ Caravans turn aside from their paths;
    they go up into untamed areas and perish.
¹⁹ Caravans from Tema look;
    merchants from Sheba hope for it.
²⁰ They are ashamed that they trusted;
    they arrive and are dismayed.
²¹ That’s what you are like;^[e]
    you see something awful and are afraid.

²² Have I said, “Give me something?
    Offer a bribe from your wealth for me?
²³     Rescue me from the hand of my enemy?
    Ransom me from the grip of the ruthless?”
²⁴ Instruct me and I’ll be quiet;
    inform me how I’ve erred.
²⁵ How painful are truthful words,
    but what do your condemnations accomplish?
²⁶ Do you intend to correct my words,
    to treat the words of a hopeless man as wind?
²⁷ Would you even gamble over an orphan,
    barter away your friend?
²⁸ Now look at me—
    would I lie to your face?
²⁹ Turn! Don’t be faithless.
    Turn now! I am righteous.
³⁰ Is there wrong on my tongue,
    or can my mouth not recognize disaster?

7 Isn’t slavery everyone’s condition on earth,
    our days like those of a hired worker?
²         Like a slave we pant for a shadow,
            await our task like a hired worker.
³ So I have inherited months of emptiness;
    nights of toil have been measured out for me.
⁴ If I lie down and think—When will I get up?—
    night drags on,^[f] and restless thoughts fill me until dawn.
⁵ My flesh is covered with worms and crusted earth;
    my skin hardens and oozes.
⁶ My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;
    they reach their end without hope.^[g]
7 Remember that my life is wind;
    my eyes won’t see pleasure again.
⁸ The eye that sees me now will no longer look on me;
    your eyes will be on me, and I won’t exist.
⁹ A cloud breaks apart and moves on—
    like the one who descends to the grave^[h] and won’t rise,
¹⁰         won’t return home again,
        won’t be recognized in town anymore.

¹¹ But I won’t keep quiet;
    I will speak in the adversity of my spirit,
    groan in the bitterness of my life.
¹² Am I Sea^[i] or the Sea Monster^[j]
    that you place me under guard?
¹³ If I say, “My couch will comfort me,”
    my bed will diminish my murmuring.
¹⁴ You scare me with dreams,
    frighten me with visions.
¹⁵ I would choose strangling
    and death instead of my bones.
¹⁶ I reject life;^[k] I don’t want to live long;
    leave me alone, for my days are empty.

¹⁷ What are human beings, that you exalt them,
    that you take note of them,
¹⁸     visit them each morning,
    test them every moment?
¹⁹ Why not look away from me;
    let me alone until I swallow my spit?
²⁰ If I sinned, what did I do to you,
    guardian of people?
Why have you made me your target
    so that I’m a burden to myself?
²¹ Why not forgive my sin,
    overlook my iniquity?
Then I would lie down in the dust;
    you would search hard for me,
    and I would not exist.

² How long will you mouth such things
    such that your utterances become a strong wind?
³ Does God pervert justice,
    or does the Almighty distort what is right?
⁴ If your children sinned against him,
    then he delivered them into the power of their rebellion.
⁵ If you will search eagerly for God,
    plead with the Almighty.
⁶ If you are pure and do the right thing,
    then surely he will become active on your behalf
    and reward your innocent dwelling.
⁷ Although your former state was ordinary,
    your future will be extraordinary.

⁸ Ask a previous generation
        and verify the findings of your ancestors,
⁹     for we are only recently here and don’t know
        because our days on earth are a shadow.
¹⁰ Won’t they instruct you and tell you;
    will words not^[l] proceed from their hearts?

¹¹ Does papyrus grow apart from a marsh?
    Does a reed flourish without water?
¹²         While still tender, uncut,
        it will wither before every other grass.
¹³ So are the paths of all who forget God.
    Hope perishes for the godless,
¹⁴     whose confidence is a fragile thing,^[m]
        their trust, a spider’s web.
¹⁵ He leans on its web, and it doesn’t stand;
    grasps it, and it can’t remain in place.
¹⁶ It’s like a well-watered plant in the sun;
    its runners spread over its gardens.
¹⁷ Its roots are entwined over a pile of rocks,
    for it sees a home among stones.
¹⁸ If it’s uprooted from its place,
    it lies, saying, “I can’t see you.”
¹⁹ Surely its way is a joy,
    for from the dust other plants^[n] sprout.

²⁰ Surely God won’t reject integrity,
    won’t strengthen the hand of the wicked.
²¹ He will still fill your mouth with joy,
    your lips with a victorious shout.
²² Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
    and the tent of the wicked will vanish.

² I know for certain that this is so;
    and how can anyone be innocent before God?
³ If one wants to contend with him,
    he won’t answer one in a thousand.
⁴ He is wise^[o] and powerful;
    who can resist him and prosper?
⁵ Who removes mountains, and they are unaware;
    who overthrows them in anger?
⁶ Who shakes the earth from its place,
    and its pillars shudder?
⁷ Who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
    even seals up the stars;
⁸     stretched out the heavens alone
    and trod on the waves of the Sea;^[p]
9     made the Bear and Orion, Pleiades
    and the southern constellations;
¹⁰     does great and unsearchable things,
    wonders beyond number?

¹¹ If God goes by me, I can’t see him;
    he glides past, and I can’t perceive him.
¹² If he seizes, who can bring back?
    Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
¹³ God won’t retract his anger;
    the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him.
¹⁴ Yet I myself will answer him;
    I’ll choose my words in a contest^[q] with him.
¹⁵ Even if I’m innocent, I can’t answer;
    I must plead for justice.
¹⁶ If I were to call and he answered me,
    I couldn’t believe that he heard my voice.
¹⁷ Who bruises me with a tempest
    and multiplies my wounds for no reason?
¹⁸ He doesn’t let me catch my breath,
    for he fills me with bitterness.
¹⁹ If the issue is strength—behold power!
    If justice—who calls God to meet me?

²⁰ If I’m innocent, my mouth condemns me;
    I have integrity; but God declares me perverse.
²¹ I’m blameless, yet don’t know myself;
    I reject my life.
²² It’s all the same;
    therefore, I say God destroys the blameless and the sinners.
²³ If calamity suddenly kills,
    he mocks at the slaying^[r] of innocents.
²⁴ The earth is handed over to the wicked;
    he covers the faces of its judges.
    If not God, then who does?

²⁵ My days are swifter than a runner;
    they flee and don’t experience good.
²⁶ They sweep by like ships made of reeds,
    as an eagle swoops on prey.
²⁷ If I say, “I’ll forget my lament,
    put on a different face so I can smile,”
²⁸     I’m still afraid of all my suffering;
        I know that you won’t declare me innocent.
²⁹ I myself am thought guilty;
    why have I tried so hard in vain?
³⁰ If I wash myself with snow,
        purify my hands with soap,
³¹     then you’ll hurl me into a slimy pit
        so that my clothes detest me.
³² God is not a man like me—someone I could answer—
    so that we could come together in court.
³³ Oh, that^[s] there were a mediator between us;
    he would lay his hand on both of us,
³⁴     remove his rod from me,
        so his fury wouldn’t frighten me.
³⁵ Then I would speak—unafraid—
    for I’m not that way.