Job Answers Eliphaz
6 Then Job answered [L and said]:
2 “·I wish [or If only] my ·suffering [anguish; irritation] could be weighed
and my misery put on scales.
3 ·My sadness [L It] would be heavier than the sand of the seas.
No wonder my words ·seem careless [blurt out; are wild/rash].
4 [L For] The arrows of ·the Almighty [L Shaddai] are in me;
my spirit drinks in their poison;
God’s terrors ·are gathered [are ranged; enter into battle] against me.
5 ·A wild donkey does not bray when it has grass to eat [L Does not a wild donkey bray for grass?],
·and an ox is quiet when it has feed [L Does not an ox bellow for fodder?; C Job’s complaints are as natural as the sounds animals make when hungry].
6 ·Tasteless food is not [L Would tasteless food be…?] eaten without salt,
and ·there is no [L is there…?] flavor in the ·white of an egg [or juice of a weed; C Job’s “food” (his lot in life) is inedible].
7 I refuse to touch it;
such food makes me sick [C a word connected to menstruation and therefore ritual uncleanness; Lev. 15:19–30].
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 [cut me off].
10 Then I would have this ·comfort [consolation]
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 [L What is my…?] strength to wait.
·There is nothing to hope for,
so why should I be patient [L What is my end that I should arrange my life]?
12 ·I do not [L Do I…?] have the strength of stone;
·my flesh is not [L is my flesh…?] bronze.
13 ·I have no power to help myself [L Is there no help for me?],
because ·success [resourcefulness] has been ·taken away [driven] 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 [or Those who withhold loyalty from their friend do not fear the Almighty/Shaddai; C Job here criticizes his friends’ attitude toward him].’
15 But my ·brothers [C Job’s three friends] cannot be counted on.
They are like ·streams that do not always flow [L wadis; C seasonal riverbeds that are dry in the summer],
streams that sometimes run over.
16 They are made dark by melting ice
and rise with melting snow.
17 But they ·stop flowing [L are silent] in the dry season;
they disappear when it is hot.
18 ·Travelers [or Caravans] turn away from their paths
and go into the desert and die.
19 The groups of travelers from Tema [C an oasis in north Arabia] look for water,
and the traders of Sheba [C in south Arabia; both places were well known for their trade through the desert] look for it hopefully.
20 They are ·upset [L ashamed] because they had been sure;
when they arrive, they are ·disappointed [dismayed].
21 You ·also have been no help [L become like this to me].
You see something terrible, and you are afraid.
22 ·I have never said [L Did I ever say…?], ‘Give me a gift.
Use your wealth to ·pay my debt [or make a bribe for me].
23 ·Save [Rescue] me from the enemy’s power.
·Buy me back [Redeem me] from the clutches of ·cruel [violent] people.’
24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet.
·Show me [L Help me understand] where I have been wrong.
25 ·Honest [Virtuous; C Job speaks sarcastically] words are painful,
but your ·arguments [reproofs] prove nothing.
26 Do you mean to correct what I say?
Will you treat the words of a ·troubled [despairing] man as if they were only wind [C that is, empty]?
27 You would even ·gamble [cast lots] for orphans
and would ·trade away [sell] your friend.
28 “But now please look at me.
I would not lie to your face.
29 ·Change your mind [L Return now]; do not be unfair;
·think [return] again, because my ·innocence [righteousness] is being questioned.
30 What I am saying is not wicked;
I can ·tell [L taste] ·the difference between right and wrong [or tragedy].