| 1 | And Job answered and said, |
| 2 | Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! |
| 3 | For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words are vehement. |
| 4 | For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, their poison drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of +God are arrayed against me. |
| 5 | Doth the wild ass bray by the grass? loweth an ox over his fodder? |
| 6 | Shall that which is insipid be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg? |
| 7 | What my soul refuseth to touch, that is as my loathsome food. |
| 8 | Oh that I might have my request, and that +God would grant my desire! |
| 9 | And that it would please +God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! |
| 10 | Then should I yet have comfort; and in the pain which spareth not I would rejoice that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. |
| 11 | What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should have patience? |
| 12 | Is my strength the strength of stones? is my flesh of brass? |
| 13 | Is it not that there is no help in me, and soundness is driven away from me? |
| 14 | For him that is fainting kindness [is meet] from his friend; or he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. |
| 15 | My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a stream, as the channel of streams which pass away, |
| 16 | Which are turbid by reason of the ice, in which the snow hideth itself: |
| 17 | At the time they diminish, they are dried up; when heat affecteth them, they vanish from their place: |
| 18 | They wind about in the paths of their course, they go off into the waste and perish. |
| 19 | The caravans of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba counted on them: |
| 20 | They are ashamed at their hope; they come thither, and are confounded. |
| 21 | So now ye are nothing; ye see a terrible object and are afraid. |
| 22 | Did I say, Bring unto me, and make me a present from your substance? |
| 23 | Or, rescue me from the hand of the oppressor, and redeem me from the hand of the violent? |
| 24 | Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred. |
| 25 | How forcible are right words! but what doth your upbraiding reprove? |
| 26 | Do ye imagine to reprove words? The speeches of one that is desperate are indeed for the wind. |
| 27 | Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and dig [a pit] for your friend. |
| 28 | Now therefore if ye will, look upon me; and it shall be to your face if I lie. |
| 29 | Return, I pray you, let there be no wrong; yea, return again, my righteousness shall be in it. |
| 30 | Is there wrong in my tongue? cannot my taste discern mischievous things? |