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Job 6

Job Answers Eliphaz

Then Job answered and said,
2
“Oh that my vexation were actually weighed
And laid in the balances together with my destruction!
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For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;
Therefore my words have been rash.
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For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
Their poison my spirit drinks;
The horrors of God are arranged against me.
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Does the wild donkey bray over his grass,
Or does the ox low over his fodder?
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Can something tasteless be eaten without salt,
Or is there any taste in the slime of a yolk?
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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!
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Would that God were willing to crush me,
That He would release His hand and cut me off!
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But it is still my comfort,
And I rejoice in unsparing pain,
That I have not at all hidden away the words of the Holy One.
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What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should endure?
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Is my strength the strength of stones,
Or is my flesh bronze?
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Is it that there is no help within me,
And that the success of sound wisdom is driven from me?

14
“For the despairing man lovingkindness should be from his friend;
But he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
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My brothers have betrayed me like a wadi,
Like the torrents of wadis which pass away,
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Which grow dark because of ice
And upon which the snow hides itself.
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When they become waterless, they are silent;
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.
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The paths of their course wind along;
They go up into a formless place and perish.
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The caravans of Tema looked;
The travelers of Sheba hoped for them.
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They were ashamed for they had trusted;
They came there and were humiliated.
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Indeed, you have now become such;
You see a terror and are afraid.
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Have I said, ‘Give me something,’
Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’
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Or, ‘Give me escape from the hand of the adversary,’
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless men’?

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“Instruct me, and I will be silent;
And cause me to understand how I have erred.
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How painful are upright words!
But what does your reproof prove?
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Do you think to reprove my words,
Or think of the words of one in despair as wind?
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You would even cast lots for the orphans
And bargain over your friend.
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So now be willing to face me,
And see if I lie to your face.
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Now turn from this, let there be no unrighteousness;
Even turn from this, my righteousness is yet in it.
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Is there unrighteousness on my tongue?
Cannot my palate discern destruction?