Job 6

Then Job replied to Eliphaz and the others. He said, 2 “If I could put all my troubles and misery on a scale and weigh them, 3 they would certainly be heavier than all the sand along the ocean shores. That is why I spoke very rashly about the day when I was born. \* 4 It is as if Almighty God had shot me with arrows. It is as if those arrows had poison on their tips and that poison had gone into my spirit. The things that God has done to me are like soldiers lined up to attack me. 5 Just as 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, I would not complain if you were really helping me. 6 People use salt to help them eat food that has little taste. People do that with the white of an egg, for example. I have been saying how I feel in order to help me deal with my situation. \* 7 But regarding food itself, I actually do not want to eat at all, because my troubles are making me too upset to eat. 8 I wish that God would do for me what I have asked of him: 9 I wish that God would agree to let me die! God is certainly able to end my life. \* 10 If he did that, I would be comforted: I would know that in spite of the unrelenting pain I had suffered, I would still always have obeyed God’s commands. 11 I do not have the strength to endure until these troubles are over. I have nothing to look forward to, so I do not want to live any longer! \* 12 I am not strong like stone, my body is not sturdy like bronze, so I will not be able to endure these troubles for a long time. 13 I am no longer able to help myself. My troubles are keeping me from doing that. \* 14 When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him, even if he stops honoring Almighty God. 15 But you, my friends, have not helped me. You are like streams in the wilderness that travelers cannot depend on, because they leave their channels empty in the dry season. 16 These streams are full of water when the melting ice and snow make them overflow, 17 but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing in those streams, and the channels dry up. \* 18 Merchant caravans turn off the road to search for water. {However, there is no water in those stream beds, so} the merchants die in the desert. 19 The men in those caravans searched for some water because they were sure that they would find some. 20 They were very disappointed, because they had been sure that they would find water. They traveled a long distance to the stream bed, but there was no water in it. \* 21 Similarly, you three have not helped me at all! You have seen that terrible things have happened to me, and you are not helping me, because you are afraid that God might do similar things to you. 22 {After I lost all my wealth,} I did not ask any of you to give me money. I did not plead with any of you to spend some of your money to help me. 23 I never asked any of you to rescue me from my enemies. No, I did not ask you to save me from people who were oppressing me. \* 24 Answer me now, and then I will be quiet; tell me what wrong things I have done! 25 I would be willing to listen to what you had to say, even if it were painful, as long as it was helpful. But though you are trying to correct me, you are not really helping me at all. \* 26 I am a man who has nothing to hope for, but you try to correct me, and you think what I say is as useless as the wind! 27 In fact, you are treating me as callously as if you were gambling for an orphan or arguing over the price of a friend you were selling into slavery! \* 28 Please look at me! I will not lie while I am talking straight to you. 29 Please stop saying that I have sinned! Stop criticizing me unfairly! You should realize that I have not done anything wrong. 30 You must not think that I am lying! I know what is right to say and what is wrong to say. \*