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Job 6
Easy-to-Read Version
Job 6
Easy-to-Read Version
Job Answers Eliphaz
6 Then Job answered:
2 “I wish my suffering could be weighed
and all my trouble be put on the scales.
3 They would be heavier than all the sand of the sea!
That is why my words are so crazy.
4 God All-Powerful has shot me with his arrows.
My spirit feels their poison!
God’s terrible weapons are lined up against me.
5 Even a wild donkey does not complain when it has grass to eat.
And a cow is quiet when it has food.
6 Food without salt does not taste good,
and the white of an egg has no taste.
7 I refuse to touch that kind of food;
it makes me sick!
8 “I wish I could have what I ask for.
I wish God would give me what I want.
9 I wish he would crush me—
just go ahead and kill me!
10 Then I would be comforted by this one thing:
Even through all this pain,
I never refused to obey the commands of the Holy One.
11 “With my strength gone, I have no hope to go on living.
With nothing to look forward to, why should I be patient?
12 I am not strong like a rock.
My body is not made from bronze.
13 I don’t have the power to help myself,
because all hope of success has been taken away from me.
14 “Friends should be loyal to you in times of trouble,
even if you turn away from God All-Powerful.[a]
15 But I cannot depend on you, my brothers.
You are like a stream that has no water when the weather is dry
but is flooded when the rains come.
16 In the winter, it is choked with ice and melting snow.
17 But when the weather is hot and dry,
the water stops flowing,
and the stream disappears.
18 It twists and turns along the way
and then disappears into the desert.
19 Traders from Tema search for it.
Travelers from Sheba hope to find it.
20 They are sure they can find water,
but they will be disappointed.
21 Now, you are like those streams.
You see my troubles and are afraid.
22 But have I ever asked you to help me?
Did I ask you to offer a bribe for me from your wealth?
23 No, and I never said, ‘Save me from my enemies!’
or ‘Save me from those who are cruel!’
24 “So now, teach me, and I will be quiet.
Show me what I have done wrong.
25 Honest words are powerful,
but your arguments prove nothing.
26 Do you plan to criticize me?
Will you speak more tiring words?
27 Are you the kind of people
who would gamble for orphans
and sell out your own friends?
28 Now, look me in the face,
and see that I am telling the truth!
29 You need to start over and stop being so unfair!
Think again, because I am innocent.
30 I am not lying.
I know right from wrong.
Footnotes
- Job 6:14 Or “People who fail to be loyal to their friends have also failed to respect God All-Powerful.”
Job 6
New International Version
Job 6
New International Version
Job
6 Then Job replied:
2 “If only my anguish could be weighed
and all my misery be placed on the scales!(A)
3 It would surely outweigh the sand(B) of the seas—
no wonder my words have been impetuous.(C)
4 The arrows(D) of the Almighty(E) are in me,(F)
my spirit drinks(G) in their poison;(H)
God’s terrors(I) are marshaled against me.(J)
5 Does a wild donkey(K) bray(L) when it has grass,
or an ox bellow when it has fodder?(M)
6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow[a]?(N)
7 I refuse to touch it;
such food makes me ill.(O)
8 “Oh, that I might have my request,
that God would grant what I hope for,(P)
9 that God would be willing to crush(Q) me,
to let loose his hand and cut off my life!(R)
10 Then I would still have this consolation(S)—
my joy in unrelenting pain(T)—
that I had not denied the words(U) of the Holy One.(V)
11 “What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
What prospects, that I should be patient?(W)
12 Do I have the strength of stone?
Is my flesh bronze?(X)
13 Do I have any power to help myself,(Y)
now that success has been driven from me?
14 “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend(Z)
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.(AA)
15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,(AB)
as the streams that overflow
16 when darkened by thawing ice
and swollen with melting snow,(AC)
17 but that stop flowing in the dry season,
and in the heat(AD) vanish from their channels.
18 Caravans turn aside from their routes;
they go off into the wasteland and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema(AE) look for water,
the traveling merchants of Sheba(AF) look in hope.
20 They are distressed, because they had been confident;
they arrive there, only to be disappointed.(AG)
21 Now you too have proved to be of no help;
you see something dreadful and are afraid.(AH)
22 Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf,
pay a ransom(AI) for me from your wealth,(AJ)
23 deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?(AK)
24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet;(AL)
show me where I have been wrong.(AM)
25 How painful are honest words!(AN)
But what do your arguments prove?
26 Do you mean to correct what I say,
and treat my desperate words as wind?(AO)
27 You would even cast lots(AP) for the fatherless(AQ)
and barter away your friend.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.