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Job 6
Good News Translation
Job 6
Good News Translation
6 1-2 If my troubles and griefs were weighed on scales,
3 they would weigh more than the sands of the sea,
so my wild words should not surprise you.
4 Almighty God has shot me with arrows,
and their poison spreads through my body.
God has lined up his terrors against me.
5 A donkey is content when eating grass,
and a cow is quiet when eating hay.
6 But who can eat flat, unsalted food?
What taste is there in the white of an egg?
7 I have no appetite for food like that,
and everything I eat makes me sick.[a]
8 Why won't God give me what I ask?
Why won't he answer my prayer?
9 If only he would go ahead and kill me!
10 If I knew he would, I would leap for joy,
no matter how great my pain.
I know that God is holy;
I have never opposed what he commands.
11 What strength do I have to keep on living?
Why go on living when I have no hope?
12 Am I made of stone? Is my body bronze?
13 I have no strength left to save myself;
there is nowhere I can turn for help.
14 In trouble[b] like this I need loyal friends—
whether I've forsaken God or not.
15 But you, my friends, you deceive me like streams
that go dry when no rain comes.
16 The streams are choked with snow and ice,
17 but in the heat they disappear,
and the stream beds lie bare and dry.
18 Caravans get lost looking for water;
they wander and die in the desert.
19 Caravans from Sheba and Tema search,
20 but their hope dies beside dry streams.
21 You are like[c] those streams to me,[d]
you see my fate and draw back in fear.
22 Have I asked you to give me a gift
or to bribe someone on my behalf
23 or to save me from some enemy or tyrant?
24 All right, teach me; tell me my faults.
I will be quiet and listen to you.
25 Honest words are convincing,
but you are talking nonsense.
26 You think I am talking nothing but wind;
then why do you answer my words of despair?
27 You would even roll dice for orphan slaves
and make yourselves rich off your closest friends!
28 Look me in the face. I won't lie.
29 You have gone far enough. Stop being unjust.
Don't condemn me. I'm in the right.
30 But you think I am lying—
you think I can't tell right from wrong.
Footnotes
- Job 6:7 Probable text sick; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 6:14 Probable text trouble; Hebrew unclear.
- Job 6:21 Probable text like; Hebrew because.
- Job 6:21 Some ancient translations and one; Hebrew manuscript to me; most Hebrew manuscripts have two different expressions: nothing in the text and to him in the margin.
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.
Job 6
King James Version
Job 6
King James Version
6 But Job answered and said,
2 Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
5 Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.
8 Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9 Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
10 Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?
13 Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?
14 To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid:
17 What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18 The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.
19 The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
20 They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
21 For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.
22 Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?
23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?
26 Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?
27 Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.
28 Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.
29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.
30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
Good News Translation (GNT) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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