2  “Oh that my vexation were weighed,

and all my calamity laid in the balances!

3  For then it would be heavier than ^zthe sand of the sea;

therefore my words have been rash.

4  For ^athe arrows of the Almighty are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

5  Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,

or the ox low over his fodder?

6  Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,

or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?¹

7  My appetite refuses to touch them;

they are as food that is loathsome to me.²

8  “Oh that I might have my request,

and that God would fulfill my hope,

9  that it would ^bplease God to crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

10  This would be my comfort;

I would even exult³ in pain ^cunsparing,

for I have not denied the words of ^dthe Holy One.

11  What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should be patient?

12  Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?

13  Have I any help in me,

when resource is driven from me?

14  “He who ^ewithholds⁴ kindness from a ^ffriend

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

15  My ^gbrothers are ^htreacherous as a torrent-bed,

as torrential ⁱstreams that pass away,

16  which are dark with ice,

and where the snow hides itself.

17  When they melt, they disappear;

when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

18  The caravans turn aside from their course;

they go up into ^jthe waste and perish.

19  The caravans of ^kTema look,

the travelers of ^lSheba hope.

20  They are ^mashamed because they were confident;

they come there and are ^mdisappointed.

21  For you have now become nothing;

you see my calamity and are afraid.

22  Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?

Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?

23  Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’?

Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of ⁿthe ruthless’?

24  “Teach me, and I will be silent;

make me understand how I have gone astray.

25  How forceful are upright words!

But what does reproof from you reprove?

26  Do you think that you can reprove words,

when the speech of a despairing man is ^owind?

27  You would even ^pcast lots over the fatherless,

and bargain over your friend.

28  “But now, be pleased to look at me,

for I will not lie to your face.

29  ^qPlease turn; let no injustice be done.

Turn now; my vindication is at stake.

30  Is there any injustice on my tongue?

Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

1  “Has not man ^ra hard service on earth,

and are not his ^sdays like the days of a hired hand?

2  Like a slave who longs for ^tthe shadow,

and like ^ua hired hand who looks for his ^vwages,

3  so I am allotted months of ^wemptiness,

^xand nights of misery are apportioned to me.

4  ^yWhen I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’

But the night is long,

and I am full of tossing till the dawn.

5  My flesh is clothed with ^zworms and ^adirt;

my skin hardens, then ^bbreaks out afresh.

6  My days are ^cswifter than ^da weaver’s shuttle

and come to their end without hope.

7  “Remember that my life is a ^ebreath;

my eye will never again see good.

8  ^fThe eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;

while your eyes are on me, ^gI shall be gone.

9  As ^hthe cloud fades and vanishes,

so he who ⁱgoes down to Sheol does not come up;

10  he ^jreturns no more to his house,

nor does his ^kplace know him anymore.

11  “Therefore I will not ^lrestrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will ^mcomplain in ⁿthe bitterness of my soul.

12  Am I the sea, or ^oa sea monster,

that you set a guard over me?

13  ^pWhen I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,

my couch will ease my complaint,’

14  then you scare me with dreams

and terrify me with visions,

15  so that I would choose strangling

and death rather than my ^qbones.

16  I ^rloathe my life; I would not live forever.

^sLeave me alone, for my days are ^ta breath.

17  ^uWhat is man, that you make so much of him,

and that you set your heart on him,

18  ^vvisit him every morning

and ^wtest him every moment?

19  How long will you not ^xlook away from me,

nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?

20  If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?

Why have you made me ^yyour mark?

Why have I become a burden to you?

21  Why do you not pardon my transgression

and take away my iniquity?

For now I shall lie in ^zthe earth;

you will ^aseek me, ^bbut I shall not be.”

2  “How long will you say these things,

and the words of your mouth be a ^dgreat wind?

3  ^eDoes God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

4  If your ^fchildren have sinned against him,

he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.

5  If you will seek God

and ^gplead with the Almighty for mercy,

6  if you are pure and upright,

surely then he will ^hrouse himself for you

and ⁱrestore your rightful habitation.

7  And though your beginning was small,

^jyour latter days will be very great.

8  “For ^kinquire, please, of bygone ages,

and consider what ^lthe fathers have searched out.

9  For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,

for our days on earth are ^ma shadow.

10  Will they not teach you and tell you

and utter words out of their understanding?

11  “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

Can reeds flourish where there is no water?

12  While yet in flower and not cut down,

they ⁿwither before any other plant.

13  Such are the paths of all who ^oforget God;

^pthe hope of ^qthe godless shall perish.

14  His confidence is severed,

and his trust is ^ra spider’s web.¹

15  He leans against his ^shouse, but it does not stand;

he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.

16  He is a lush plant before the sun,

and his ^tshoots spread over his garden.

17  His roots entwine the stone heap;

he looks upon a house of stones.

18  If he is destroyed from his ^uplace,

then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never ^vseen you.’

19  Behold, this is the joy of his way,

and out of ^wthe soil others will spring.

20  “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,

nor take the hand of evildoers.

21  He will yet ^xfill your mouth with laughter,

and your lips with shouting.

22  Those who hate you will be ^yclothed with shame,

and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”