Job 6

Job: Weigh My Grief and You Will See

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Job’s First Answer to Eliphaz

6:1Then Job replied:

6:2“If only someone would weigh my anger
and lift my pains together in a balance!

6:3It would indeed be heavier than the sand beside the sea;
but, it seems, my words are worthless.

6:4For the Lord’s arrows are in my body;
their fury drinks up my blood.
When I begin to speak, they stab me.

6:5What then? Does a wild donkey cry out for nothing, rather than seeking food?
Would an ox raise its voice at a manger when it has food?

6:6Will bread be eaten without salt?
Is there any taste in empty words?

6:7For my soul cannot cease;
I see my food as a stench, like the smell of a lion.

6:8If only He would grant it and my request would come,
and the Lord would grant my hope!

6:9Let the Lord begin and wound me,
but let Him not destroy me completely.

6:10May my city be a grave, on whose walls I used to leap; I will certainly not hold back.
For I have not falsified the holy words of my God.

6:11For what is my strength, that I endure?
What time remains to me, that my soul holds out?

6:12Is my strength the strength of stones?
Is my flesh made of bronze?

6:13Had I not trusted in Him?
But help is far from me.

6:14Mercy has disowned me,
and the Lord’s care has overlooked me.

6:15Those nearest me paid no attention to me;
like a failing winter torrent or a wave they passed me by.

6:16Those who regarded me with awe have now fallen upon me,
like snow or ice frozen solid.

6:17Just as snow melts when heat comes and is no longer recognized as what it was,

6:18so I too was abandoned by everyone;
I perished and became homeless.

6:19Look at the roads of the Temanites,
the paths of the Sabeans, you who see clearly!

6:20Those who trust in cities and possessions
will incur shame.

6:21But you too have come upon me without mercy,
so that on seeing my wound you became afraid.

6:22What then? Did I ask you for anything,
or do I need the strength you have,

6:23to save me from enemies
or rescue me from the hand of rulers?

6:24Teach me, and I will be silent;
if I have gone astray in anything, tell me.

6:25But, it seems, a truthful person’s words are worthless,
for I am not asking you for strength.

6:26Your reproof will not stop me with words,
for I will not endure even the sound of a word from you.

6:27Except that you fall upon an orphan
and leap upon your friend.

6:28But now, looking into your faces, I will not lie.

6:29Sit down, then, and let there be no injustice;
once again associate with the righteous person.

6:30For there is no injustice on my tongue;
does not my throat ponder understanding?

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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.