Dual PanelJob's reply to EliphazIt's impossible
1Job said:
2It's impossible to weigh my misery and grief!
3They outweigh the sand along the beach, and that's why I have spoken without thinking first.
4The fearsome arrows of God All-Powerful have filled my soul with their poison.
5Do oxen and wild donkeys cry out in distress unless they are hungry?
6What is food without salt? What is more tasteless than the white of an egg?
7That's how my food tastes, and my appetite is gone.
8How I wish that God would answer my prayer and do away with me.
9(6:8)
10Then I would be comforted, knowing that in all my pain I have never disobeyed God.
11Why should I patiently hope when my strength is gone?
12I am not strong as stone or bronze,
13and I have finally reached the end of my rope.
My friends, I am desperate
14 My friends, I am desperate, and you should help me, even if I no longer respect God All-Powerful.
15But you are treacherous as streams that swell with melting snow,
16(6:15)
17then suddenly disappear in the summer heat.
18I am like a caravan, lost in the desert while searching for water.
19Caravans from Tema and Sheba
20thought they would find water. But they were disappointed,
21just as I am with you. Only one look at my suffering, and you run away scared.
What have I done wrong?
22 Have I ever asked any of you to give me a gift
23or to purchase my freedom from brutal enemies?
24What have I done wrong? Show me, and I will keep quiet.
25The truth is always painful, but your arguments prove nothing.
26Here I am desperate, and you consider my words as worthless as wind.
27Why, you would sell an orphan or your own neighbour!
28Look me straight in the eye; I won't lie to you.
29Stop accusing me falsely; my reputation is at stake.
30I know right from wrong, and I am not telling lies.