1  “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?

To which of ^vthe holy ones will you turn?

2  Surely vexation kills the fool,

and jealousy slays the simple.

3  ^wI have seen the fool taking root,

but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

4  His children are ^xfar from safety;

they are crushed in ^ythe gate,

and there is no one to deliver them.

5  The hungry eat his harvest,

and he takes it even out of thorns,¹

and the thirsty pant² after his³ wealth.

6  For affliction does not come from the dust,

nor does trouble sprout from the ground,

7  but man is ^zborn to trouble

as the sparks fly upward.

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.