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Job's Friends Are No Help

¹ Then Job ^(F1)answered,

² "^(C1)Oh that my grief were actually weighed
And laid in the balances together with my calamity!

³ "For then it would be ^(C1)heavier than the sand of the seas;
Therefore my words have been rash.

⁴ "For the ^(C1)arrows of the Almighty are within me,
^(F1)Their ^(C2)poison my spirit drinks;
The ^(C3)terrors of God are arrayed against me.

⁵ "Does the ^(C1)wild donkey bray over his grass,
Or does the ox low over his fodder?

⁶ "Can something tasteless be eaten without salt,
Or is there any taste in the ^(F1)white of an egg?

⁷ "My soul ^(C1)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 longing!

⁹ "Would that God were ^(C1)willing to crush me,
That He would loose His hand and cut me off!

¹⁰ "But it is still my consolation,
And I rejoice in unsparing pain,
That I ^(C1)have not ^(F1)denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹ "What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should ^(F1)(C1)endure?

¹² "Is my strength the strength of stones,
Or is my flesh bronze?

¹³ "Is it that my ^(C1)help is not within me,
And that ^(F1)(C2)deliverance is driven from me?

¹⁴ "For the ^(C1)despairing man there should be kindness from his friend;
So that he does not ^(C2)forsake the ^(F1)fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵ "My brothers have acted ^(C1)deceitfully like a ^(F1)wadi,
Like the torrents of ^(F1)wadis which vanish,

¹⁶ Which are turbid because of ice
And into which the snow ^(F1)melts.

¹⁷ "When ^(C1)they become waterless, they ^(F1)are silent,
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

¹⁸ "The ^(F1)paths of their course wind along,
They go up into nothing and perish.

¹⁹ "The caravans of ^(C1)Tema looked,
The travelers of ^(C2)Sheba hoped for them.

²⁰ "They ^(C1)were ^(F1)disappointed for they had trusted,
They came there and were confounded.

²¹ "Indeed, you have now become such,
^(C1)You see a terror and are afraid.

²² "Have I said, 'Give me something,'
Or, 'Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,'

²³ Or, 'Deliver me from the hand of the adversary,'
Or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants'?

²⁴ "Teach me, and ^(C1)I will be silent;
And show me how I have erred.

²⁵ "How painful are honest words!
But what does your argument prove?

²⁶ "Do you intend to reprove my words,
When the ^(C1)words of one in despair belong to the wind?

²⁷ "You would even ^(C1)cast lots for ^(C2)the orphans
And ^(C3)barter over your friend.

²⁸ "Now please look at me,
And see if I ^(C1)lie to your face.

²⁹ "Desist now, let there be no injustice;
Even desist, ^(C1)my righteousness is yet in it.

³⁰ "Is there injustice on my tongue?
Cannot ^(C1)my palate discern ^(F1)calamities?