Job 6.4
English standard version

Intervention n° 2 de Job

¹ Then Job answered and said:
² Oh that my vexation were weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
³ For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
⁵ Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
or the ox low over his fodder?
⁶ Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?
⁷ My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are as food that is loathsome to me.
⁸ Oh that I might have my request,
and that God would fulfill my hope,
⁹ that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
¹⁰ This would be my comfort;
I would even exult in pain unsparing,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
¹¹ What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?
¹² Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
¹³ Have I any help in me,
when resource is driven from me?
¹⁴ He who withholds kindness from a friend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵ My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed,
as torrential streams that pass away,
¹⁶ which are dark with ice,
and where the snow hides itself.
¹⁷ When they melt, they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
¹⁸ The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of Tema look,
the travelers of Sheba hope.
²⁰ They are ashamed because they were confident;
they come there and are disappointed.
²¹ For you have now become nothing;
you see my calamity and are afraid.
²² Have I said, Make me a gift?
Or, From your wealth offer a bribe for me?
²³ Or, Deliver me from the adversary's hand?
Or, Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless?
²⁴ Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone astray.
²⁵ How forceful are upright words!
But what does reproof from you reprove?
²⁶ Do you think that you can reprove words,
when the speech of a despairing man is wind?
²⁷ You would even cast lots over the fatherless,
and bargain over your friend.
²⁸ But now, be pleased to look at me,
for I will not lie to your face.
²⁹ Please turn; let no injustice be done.
Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
³⁰ Is there any injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?