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Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

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Then Job answered:

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“O that my vexation were weighed,

and all my calamity laid in the balances!

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For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;

therefore my words have been rash.

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For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

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Does the wild ass bray over its grass,

or the ox low over its fodder?

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Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,

or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?

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My appetite refuses to touch them;

they are like food that is loathsome to me.

 

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“O that I might have my request,

and that God would grant my desire;

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that it would please God to crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

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This would be my consolation;

I would even exult in unrelenting pain;

for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

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What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should be patient?

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Is my strength the strength of stones,

or is my flesh bronze?

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In truth I have no help in me,

and any resource is driven from me.

 

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“Those who withhold kindness from a friend

forsake the fear of the Almighty.

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My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed,

like freshets that pass away,

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that run dark with ice,

turbid with melting snow.

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In time of heat they disappear;

when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

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The caravans turn aside from their course;

they go up into the waste, and perish.

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The caravans of Tema look,

the travelers of Sheba hope.

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They are disappointed because they were confident;

they come there and are confounded.

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Such you have now become to me;

you see my calamity, and are afraid.

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Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?

Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?

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Or, ‘Save me from an opponent’s hand’?

Or, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’?

 

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“Teach me, and I will be silent;

make me understand how I have gone wrong.

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How forceful are honest words!

But your reproof, what does it reprove?

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Do you think that you can reprove words,

as if the speech of the desperate were wind?

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You would even cast lots over the orphan,

and bargain over your friend.

 

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“But now, be pleased to look at me;

for I will not lie to your face.

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Turn, I pray, let no wrong be done.

Turn now, my vindication is at stake.

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Is there any wrong on my tongue?

Cannot my taste discern calamity?