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Then Job replied:

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"If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!

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It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas--

no wonder my words have been impetuous.

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The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison;

God's terrors are marshaled against me.

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Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,

or an ox bellow when it has fodder?

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Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?

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I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.

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"Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for,

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that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!

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Then I would still have this consolation-- my joy in unrelenting pain--

that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

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"What strength do I have, that I should still hope?

What prospects, that I should be patient?

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Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?

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Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?

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"A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends,

even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

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But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,

as the streams that overflow

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when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,

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but that cease to flow in the dry season,

and in the heat vanish from their channels.

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Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish.

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The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.

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They are distressed, because they had been confident;

they arrive there, only to be disappointed.

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Now you too have proved to be of no help;

you see something dreadful and are afraid.

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Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf,

pay a ransom for me from your wealth,

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deliver me from the hand of the enemy,

ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless'?

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"Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.

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How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?

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Do you mean to correct what I say,

and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?

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You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.

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"But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face?

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Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.

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Is there any wickedness on my lips?

Can my mouth not discern malice?