Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Job 6
If Only My Grief Could Be Weighed
Then Job answered and said:
“If only my grief could truly be weighed,
and my calamity laid together on the scales!
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;
so my words have been rash.
For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison.
The terrors of God are arranged against me.
Does the wild donkey bray over grass,
or does the ox low over its fodder?
Can tasteless food be eaten without salt,
or is there flavor in the white of an egg?
My life refuses to touch them;
they are like sickening food to me.
That God Would Grant My Request
If only my request would come,
and God would grant my hope—
that God would be willing to crush me,
that he would release his hand and cut me off!
Then this would still be my comfort;
I would leap in pain that does not spare,
for I have not hidden the words of the Holy One.
What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?
Is my strength the strength of stones?
Is my flesh bronze?
Is there any help in me?
Has resourcefulness been driven from me?
My Brothers Have Dealt Treacherously
Steadfast love is owed to one who is despairing by a friend,
even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.
My brothers have dealt treacherously like a wadi,
like channels of wadis that pass away,
which are dark with ice,
and snow hides itself in them.
In the season when they are scorched, they vanish;
when it is hot, they disappear from their place.
Caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the wasteland and perish.
The caravans of Tema look;
the travelers of Sheba hope for them.
They are ashamed because they trusted;
they come there and are confounded.
For now you have become nothing;
you see terror and are afraid.
Teach Me, and I Will Be Silent
Did I say, ‘Give to me’?
Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?
Or, ‘Deliver me from the hand of an adversary’?
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’?
Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone astray.
How forceful are honest words!
But what does your correction correct?
Do you intend to correct words,
and treat the words of one in despair as wind?
You would even cast lots over an orphan
and bargain over your friend.
But now, please turn and look at me;
surely I will not lie to your face.
Turn, please; let there be no injustice.
Turn again; my righteousness is still in this.
Is there injustice on my tongue?
Can my palate not discern calamity?”