Job 6:1-30 NIV

Job 6:1-30 NIV [1] Then Job replied: [2] “If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! [3] It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas—no wonder my words have been impetuous. [4] The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me. [5] Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder? [6] Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow? [7] I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill. [8] “Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, [9] that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut off my life! [10] Then I would still have this consolation—my joy in unrelenting pain—that I had not denied the words of the Holy One. [11] “What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? [12] Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? [13] Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me? [14] “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. [15] But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow [16] when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow, [17] but that stop flowing in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels. [18] Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go off into the wasteland and perish. [19] The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope. [20] They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed. [21] Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid. [22] Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth, [23] deliver me from the hand of the enemy, rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’? [24] “Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. [25] How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove? [26] Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind? [27] You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend. [28] “But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? [29] Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. [30] Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?

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