6:1
Job spoke next. He said:
6:2
If only my misery could be weighed, and all my ills be put together on the scales!
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But they outweigh the sands of the seas: what wonder then if my words are wild?
6:4
The arrows of Shaddai stick fast in me, my spirit absorbs their poison, God's terrors stand paraded against me.
6:5
Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox low when its fodder is within reach?
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Is not food insipid, eaten without salt, is there any taste in egg-white?
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But the very things my appetite revolts at are now my diet in sickness.
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Will no one hear my prayer, will not God himself grant my hope?
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May it please God to crush me, to give his hand free play and do away with me!
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This thought, at least, would give me comfort (a thrill of joy in unrelenting pain), that I never rebelled against the Holy One's decrees.
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But have I the strength to go on waiting? And why be patient, when doomed to such an end?
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Is mine the strength of stone, is my flesh made of bronze?
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Can I support myself on nothing? Has not all help deserted me?
6:14
Refuse faithful love to your neighbour and you forsake the fear of Shaddai.
6:15
Like the torrent, my brothers have proved deceptive, as fleeting torrents they flow:
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the ice makes their waters turgid when, above them, the snow melts,
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but, come the burning summer, they run dry, they vanish in the heat of the sun.
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Caravans leave the trail to find them, go deep into wastelands, and are lost.
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The caravans of Tema look to them, and on them Sheba's convoys build their hopes.
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Their trust brings only embarrassment, they reach them only to be thwarted.
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And this is how you now treat me, terrified at the sight of me, you take fright.
6:22
Have I said to you, 'Give me something, make some present for me at your own cost,
6:23
snatch me from the grasp of an oppressor, ransom me from the grip of a violent man'?
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Put me right, and I shall say no more; show me where I have been at fault.
6:25
Fair comment can be borne without resentment, but what are your strictures aimed at?
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Do you think mere words deserve censure, desperate speech that the wind blows away?
6:27
Soon you will be haggling over the price of an orphan, and selling your friend at bargain price!
6:28
Come, I beg you, look at me: man to man, I shall not lie.
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Relent then, no harm is done; relent then, since I am upright.
6:30
Is evil to be found on my lips? Can I not recognise misfortune when I taste it?
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