6 Then Iyyov (Job) responded:

2 If only my anguish could be truly weighed,

and my calamity could be put together with it on the scales.

3 Because now it would be heavier than the sand on the beaches

so that’s why my words have been so rash.

4 Because the arrows of God the provider are in me.

My spirit is drinking in their poison.

God’s terrors are set out against me.

5 Does a wild donkey bray when it has fresh grass to eat,

or a ox bellow when it has its fodder?

6 Do people eat tasteless food without adding salt,

≈or enjoy the taste of purslane leaves by itself?

7 My soul refuses to touch them—

they are like detestable food to me.

8 Who will give me my request?

≈May God give me what I hope for.

9 If only God would be willing to crush me.

≈May he play his hand and cut me off.

10 It still comforts me and gives me inner joy through never-ending pain,

that I haven’t denied the words of the holy one.

11 I don’t have the strength to keep waiting.

≈What future do I have, that I should want to go on living?

12 Am I strong like rock?

≈Is my body made of bronze?

13 Am I in a position to help myself?

It seems that success has been driven away from me.

14 When a man’s in despair, surely his friend should be kind

even if the man stops honouring God the provider.

15 My ‘brothers’ have been as treacherous as a river that dries up in the summer.

They disappear again like dry river beds.

16 They go dark from the ice over them,

and they hide themselves when covered with snow.

17 At the time when they should be flowing, they’re silenced.

When it’s hot, they dry up from their channels.

18 Their paths twist in their courses,

they go out into the wasteland and end there.

19 The camel caravans from Tema look for water.

The caravans from Sheba keep looking forward to them.

20 They were distressed because they had been confident.

They’ve come to the dry stream bed and were stunned.

21 Now you have become of no help.

You see the terror and you’re afraid.

22 Have I ever asked you to give me something?

≈Or to give me a reward from your wealth?

23 Or to save me from my enemy in battle?

Or to pay a ransom to ruthless people in order to free me?

24 Teach me and then I’ll be quiet.

Explain to me where I’ve gone wrong.

25 Truthful words are so painful.

But what does your proof prove to anyone?

26 Do you plan to correct my words?

Do you consider the words of someone in despair to be like wind?

27 You would even draw straws for a fatherless child.

You would make money out of your friend.

28 So now, look at me willingly.

Would I lie to your face?

29 Please turn back—don’t let there be injustice.

≈Turn now—my cause is righteous.

30 Am I being unfair?

Am I incapable of discerning evil?

7 Aren’t people expected to work on earth?

Aren’t a person’s days like the days of a hired labourer?

2 He longs for the shade just like a slave does.

He’s just like a hired man who waits eagerly for his wages.

3 So months of worthlessness have been alloted to me,

and they’ve appointed me to have many nights of trouble.

4 When I lie down I ask myself, ‘When can I get up?’

Thus evening drags on followed by restlessness until dawn.

5 My body is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dust.

≈My skin has become brittle and breaks apart.

6 In the past the days flew by faster than a weaver’s shuttle,

but now they’ve come to an end without any hope.

7 Remember that my life is just a puff of air.

My eyes will never see happiness again.

8 Your eyes won’t see me any more.

They’ll be on me but I’ll be gone.

9 Clouds just pop out of existence again and vanish.

Similarly, the person who goes down to She’ol doesn’t come back up again.

10 That person won’t return to their house again,

and before long their place won’t even know them again.

11 So I won’t restrain my mouth—

I’ll speak in the distress of my spirit.

I will complain with the bitterness of my soul.

12 Do you think that I’m the sea or the sea monster

that you will station a guard to watch me?

13 I thought that my bed would comfort me,

and that my couch would take away my complaints.

14 But then you frighten me with dreams,

and you terrify me with visions.

15 My inner self chooses strangling—

death over life in this body.

16 I REJECT—I won’t live to a VANISHING POINT.

Leave me alone because my days are just a puff of air.

17 What are humans that you make so much of them,

and that your mind thinks about them?

18 You visit them in the mornings,

and test them at various times.

19 Will you never look away from me?

Won’t you leave me alone long enough to swallow?

20 If I’ve sinned, what did I do to you, the watcher of people?

Why have you made me your target—

me who feels like I myself am now a burden?

21 Why won’t you forgive my fault

and take away my guilt?

For now I’ll lie down in the dust.

You’ll search for me but I’ll no longer exist.