Job 6

² “I wish my great pain could be weighed!
    I wish all my suffering could be weighed on scales!
³ I’m sure it would weigh more than the grains of sand on the seashore.
    No wonder I’ve been so quick to speak!
⁴ The Mighty One has shot me with his arrows.
    I have to drink their poison.
    God’s terrors are aimed at me.
⁵ Does a wild donkey cry out when it has enough grass?
    Does an ox call out when it has plenty of food?
⁶ Is food that doesn’t have any taste eaten without salt?
    Is there any flavor in the sap of a mallow plant?
⁷ I refuse to touch that kind of food.
    It makes me sick.

⁸ “I wish I could have what I’m asking for!
    I wish God would give me what I’m hoping for!
⁹ I wish he would crush me!
    I wish he would just cut off my life!
¹⁰ Then I’d still have one thing to comfort me.
    It would be that I haven’t said no to the Holy One’s commands.
    That would give me joy in spite of my pain that never ends.

¹¹ “I’m so weak that I no longer have any hope.
    Things have gotten so bad that I can’t wait for help anymore.
¹² Am I as strong as stone?
    Is my body made out of bronze?
¹³ I don’t have the power to help myself.
    All hope of success has been taken away from me.

¹⁴ “A person shouldn’t stop being kind to a friend.
    Anyone who does that stops showing respect for the Mighty One.
¹⁵ But my friends have stopped being kind to me.
    They are like streams that only flow for part of the year.
    They are like rivers that flow over their banks
¹⁶ when the ice begins to break up.
    The streams rise when the snow starts to melt.
¹⁷ But they stop flowing when the dry season comes.
    They disappear from their stream beds when the weather warms up.
¹⁸ Groups of traders turn away from their usual paths.
    They go off into the dry and empty land.
    And they die there.
¹⁹ Traders from Tema look for water.
    Traveling merchants from Sheba also hope to find it.
²⁰ They become troubled because they had expected to find some.
    But when they arrive at the stream beds,
    they don’t find any water at all.
²¹ And now, my friends, you haven’t helped me either.
    You see the horrible condition I’m in.
    And that makes you afraid.
²² I’ve never said, ‘Give me something to help me.
    Use your wealth to set me free.
²³ Save me from the power of my enemy.
    Rescue me from the power of mean people.’

²⁴ “Teach me. Then I’ll be quiet.
    Show me what I’ve done wrong.
²⁵ Honest words are so painful!
    But your reasoning doesn’t prove anything.
²⁶ Are you trying to correct what I’m saying?
    Are you treating my hopeless words like nothing but wind?
²⁷ You would even cast lots for those whose fathers have died.
    You would even trade away your closest friend.

²⁸ “But now please look at me.
    Would I tell you a lie right here in front of you?
²⁹ Stop what you are saying. Don’t be so unfair.
    Think it over again.
    You are trying to take my honesty away from me.
³⁰ Has my mouth spoken anything that is evil?
    Do my lips say things that are hateful?”