Job 6

New Century Version

² “I wish my suffering could be weighed
    and my misery put on scales.
³ My sadness would be heavier than the sand of the seas.
    No wonder my words seem careless.
⁴ The arrows of the Almighty are in me;
    my spirit drinks in their poison;
    God’s terrors are gathered against me.
⁵ A wild donkey does not bray when it has grass to eat,
    and an ox is quiet when it has feed.
⁶ Tasteless food is not eaten without salt,
    and there is no flavor in the white of an egg.
⁷ I refuse to touch it;
    such food makes me sick.

⁸ “How I wish that I might have what I ask for
    and that God would give me what I hope for.
⁹ How I wish God would crush me
    and reach out his hand to destroy me.
¹⁰ Then I would have this comfort
    and be glad even in this unending pain,
    because I would know I did not reject the words of the Holy One.

¹¹ “I do not have the strength to wait.
    There is nothing to hope for,
    so why should I be patient?
¹² I do not have the strength of stone;
    my flesh is not bronze.
¹³ I have no power to help myself,
    because success has been taken away from me.

¹⁴ “They say, ‘A person’s friends should be kind to him when he is in trouble,
    even if he stops fearing the Almighty.’
¹⁵ But my brothers cannot be counted on.
    They are like streams that do not always flow,
    streams that sometimes run over.
¹⁶ They are made dark by melting ice
    and rise with melting snow.
¹⁷ But they stop flowing in the dry season;
    they disappear when it is hot.
¹⁸ Travelers turn away from their paths
    and go into the desert and die.
¹⁹ The groups of travelers from Tema look for water,
    and the traders of Sheba look hopefully.
²⁰ They are upset because they had been sure;
    when they arrive, they are disappointed.
²¹ You also have been no help.
    You see something terrible, and you are afraid.
²² I have never said, ‘Give me a gift.
    Use your wealth to pay my debt.
²³ Save me from the enemy’s power.
    Buy me back from the clutches of cruel people.’

²⁴ “Teach me, and I will be quiet.
    Show me where I have been wrong.
²⁵ Honest words are painful,
    but your arguments prove nothing.
²⁶ Do you mean to correct what I say?
    Will you treat the words of a troubled man as if they were only wind?
²⁷ You would even gamble for orphans
    and would trade away your friend.

²⁸ “But now please look at me.
    I would not lie to your face.
²⁹ Change your mind; do not be unfair;
    think again, because my innocence is being questioned.
³⁰ What I am saying is not wicked;
    I can tell the difference between right and wrong.