¹Then Job answered, ²“Oh that my anguish were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! ³For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, therefore my words have been rash. ⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me. ⁵Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder? ⁶Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? ⁷My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me. ⁸“Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for, ⁹even that it would please God to crush me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! ¹⁰Let it still be my consolation, yes, let me exult in pain that doesn’t spare, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. ¹¹What is my strength, that I should wait? What is my end, that I should be patient? ¹²Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of bronze? ¹³Isn’t it that I have no help in me, that wisdom is driven away from me? ¹⁴“To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty. ¹⁵My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away; ¹⁶which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself. ¹⁷In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. ¹⁸The caravans that travel beside them turn away. They go up into the waste, and perish. ¹⁹The caravans of Tema looked. The companies of Sheba waited for them. ²⁰They were distressed because they were confident. They came there, and were confounded. ²¹For now you are nothing. You see a terror, and are afraid. ²²Did I ever say, ‘Give to me’? or, ‘Offer a present for me from your substance’? ²³or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’? or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors’? ²⁴“Teach me, and I will hold my peace. Cause me to understand my error. ²⁵How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove? ²⁶Do you intend to reprove words, since the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind? ²⁷Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend. ²⁸Now therefore be pleased to look at me, for surely I will not lie to your face. ²⁹Please return. Let there be no injustice. Yes, return again. My cause is righteous. ³⁰Is there injustice on my tongue? Can’t my taste discern mischievous things?