- 1
- And Job answered and said,
- 2
- Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!
- 3
- For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;
therefore my words are vehement.
- 4
- For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, their poison drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of +God are arrayed against me.
- 5
- Doth the wild ass bray by the grass?
loweth an ox over his fodder?
- 6
- Shall that which is insipid be eaten without salt?
Is there any taste in the white of an egg?
- 7
- What my soul refuseth to touch, that is as my loathsome food.
- 8
- Oh that I might have my request, and that +God would grant my desire!
- 9
- And that it would please +God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
- 10
- Then should I yet have comfort;
and in the pain which spareth not I would rejoice that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
- 11
- What is my strength, that I should hope?
and what is mine end, that I should have patience?
- 12
- Is my strength the strength of stones?
is my flesh of brass?
- 13
- Is it not that there is no help in me, and soundness is driven away from me?
- 14
- For him that is fainting kindness [is meet] from his friend;
or he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
- 15
- My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a stream, as the channel of streams which pass away,
- 16
- Which are turbid by reason of the ice, in which the snow hideth itself:
- 17
- At the time they diminish, they are dried up;
when heat affecteth them, they vanish from their place:
- 18
- They wind about in the paths of their course, they go off into the waste and perish.
- 19
- The caravans of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba counted on them:
- 20
- They are ashamed at their hope;
they come thither, and are confounded.
- 21
- So now ye are nothing;
ye see a terrible object and are afraid.
- 22
- Did I say, Bring unto me, and make me a present from your substance?
- 23
- Or, rescue me from the hand of the oppressor, and redeem me from the hand of the violent?
- 24
- Teach me, and I will hold my tongue;
and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
- 25
- How forcible are right words!
but what doth your upbraiding reprove?
- 26
- Do ye imagine to reprove words?
The speeches of one that is desperate are indeed for the wind.
- 27
- Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and dig [a pit] for your friend.
- 28
- Now therefore if ye will, look upon me;
and it shall be to your face if I lie.
- 29
- Return, I pray you, let there be no wrong;
yea, return again, my righteousness shall be in it.
- 30
- Is there wrong in my tongue?
cannot my taste discern mischievous things?
|