Job

Chapter 6

איוב
✦

1Then Job said in reply:

2If my anguish were weighed,My full calamity laid on the scales,

3It would be heavier than the sand of the sea;That is why I spoke recklessly.

4For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;My spirit absorbs their poison;God’s terrors are arrayed against me.

5Does a wild ass bray when he has grass?Does a bull bellow over his fodder?

6Can what is tasteless be eaten without salt?Does mallow juice have any flavor?

7I refuse to touch them;They are like food when I am sick.

8Would that my request were granted,That God gave me what I wished for;

9Would that God consented to crush me,Loosed His hand and cut me off.

10Then this would be my consolation,As I writhed in unsparing pains:That I did not suppress my words against the Holy One.

11What strength have I, that I should endure?How long have I to live, that I should be patient?

12Is my strength the strength of rock?Is my flesh bronze?

13Truly, I cannot help myself;I have been deprived of resourcefulness.

14A friend owes loyalty to one who fails,Though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty;

15My comrades are fickle, like a wadi,Like a bed on which streams once ran.

16They are dark with ice;Snow obscures them;

17But when they thaw, they vanish;In the heat, they disappear where they are.

18Their course twists and turns;They run into the desert and perish.

19Caravans from Tema look to them;Processions from Sheba count on them.

20They are disappointed in their hopes;When they reach the place, they stand aghast.

21So you are as nothing:At the sight of misfortune, you take fright.

22Did I say to you, “I need your gift;Pay a bribe for me out of your wealth;

23Deliver me from the clutches of my enemy;Redeem me from violent men”?

24Teach me; I shall be silent;Tell me where I am wrong.

25How trenchant honest words are;But what sort of reproof comes from you?

26Do you devise words of reproof,But count a hopeless man’s words as wind?

27You would even cast lots over an orphan,Or barter away your friend.

28Now be so good as to face me;I will not lie to your face.

29Relent! Let there not be injustice;Relent! I am still in the right.

30Is injustice on my tongue?Can my palate not discern evil?

Translation: Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (Jewish Publication Society, 1985), via Sefaria, used under CC BY-NC.
Paragraph divisions follow the Masoretic text (Miqra according to the Masorah, CC BY-SA).