6:1 Then Job replied:

6:2 "If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!

6:3 It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas--no wonder my words have been impetuous.

6:4 The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me.

6:5 Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?

6:6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?

6:7 I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.

6:8 "Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for,

6:9 that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!

6:10 Then I would still have this consolation--my joy in unrelenting pain--that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

6:11 "What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?

6:12 Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?

6:13 Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?

6:14 "A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

6:15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow

6:16 when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,

6:17 but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.

6:18 Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish.

6:19 The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.

6:20 They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.

6:21 Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.

6:22 Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth,

6:23 deliver me from the hand of the enemy, ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless'?

6:24 "Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.

6:25 How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?

6:26 Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?

6:27 You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.

6:28 "But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face?

6:29 Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.

6:30 Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?