• Job’s Friends Are No Help

  • 1 Then Job responded,
  • 2 “Oh if only my grief were actually weighed And laid in the balances together with my disaster!
  • 3 “For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; For that reason my words have been rash.
  • 4 “For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, My spirit drinks their poison; The terrors of God line up against me.
  • 5 “Does the wild donkey bray over his grass, Or does the ox low over his feed?
  • 6 “Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, Or is there any taste in the juice of an alkanet plant?
  • 7 “My soul refuses to touch them; They are like loathsome food to me.
  • 8 “Oh, that my request might come to pass, And that God would grant my hope!
  • 9 “Oh, that God would decide to crush me, That He would let loose His hand and cut me off!
  • 10 “But it is still my comfort, And I rejoice in unsparing pain, That 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 endure?
  • 12 “Is my strength the strength of stones, Or is my flesh bronze?
  • 13 “Is it that my help is not within me, And that a good outcome is driven away from me?
  • 14 “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; So that he does not abandon the fear of the Almighty.
  • 15 “My brothers have acted deceitfully like a wadi, Like the torrents of wadis which drain away,
  • 16 Which are darkened because of ice, And into which the snow melts.
  • 17 “When they dry up, they vanish; When it is hot, they disappear from their place.
  • 18 “The paths of their course wind along, They go up into wasteland and perish.
  • 19 “The caravans of Tema looked, The travelers of Sheba hoped for them.
  • 20 “They were put to shame, for they had trusted, They came there and were humiliated.
  • 21 “Indeed, you have now become such, You see terrors and are afraid.
  • 22 “Have I said, ‘Give me something,’ Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’
  • 23 Or, ‘Save me from the hand of the enemy,’ Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants’?
  • 24 “Teach me, and I will be silent; And show me how I have done wrong.
  • 25 “How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove?
  • 26 “Do you intend to rebuke my words, When the words of one in despair belong to the wind?
  • 27 “You would even cast lots for the orphans, And barter over your friend.
  • 28 “Now please look at me, And see if I am lying to your face.
  • 29 “Please turn away, let there be no injustice; Turn away, my righteousness is still in it.
  • 30 “Is there injustice on my tongue? Does my palate not discern disasters?