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Job 6
New International Reader's Version
Job 6
New International Reader's Version
Job’s Reply
6 Job replied,
2 “I wish my great pain could be weighed!
I wish all my suffering could be weighed on scales!
3 I’m sure it would weigh more than the grains of sand on the seashore.
No wonder I’ve been so quick to speak!
4 The Mighty One has shot me with his arrows.
I have to drink their poison.
God’s terrors are aimed at me.
5 Does a wild donkey cry out when it has enough grass?
Does an ox call out when it has plenty of food?
6 Is food that doesn’t have any taste eaten without salt?
Is there any flavor in the sap of a mallow plant?
7 I refuse to touch that kind of food.
It makes me sick.
8 “I wish I could have what I’m asking for!
I wish God would give me what I’m hoping for!
9 I wish he would crush me!
I wish he would just cut off my life!
10 Then I’d still have one thing to comfort me.
It would be that I haven’t said no to the Holy One’s commands.
That would give me joy in spite of my pain that never ends.
11 “I’m so weak that I no longer have any hope.
Things have gotten so bad that I can’t wait for help anymore.
12 Am I as strong as stone?
Is my body made out of bronze?
13 I don’t have the power to help myself.
All hope of success has been taken away from me.
14 “A person shouldn’t stop being kind to a friend.
Anyone who does that stops showing respect for the Mighty One.
15 But my friends have stopped being kind to me.
They are like streams that only flow for part of the year.
They are like rivers that flow over their banks
16 when the ice begins to break up.
The streams rise when the snow starts to melt.
17 But they stop flowing when the dry season comes.
They disappear from their stream beds when the weather warms up.
18 Groups of traders turn away from their usual paths.
They go off into the dry and empty land.
And they die there.
19 Traders from Tema look for water.
Traveling merchants from Sheba also hope to find it.
20 They become troubled because they had expected to find some.
But when they arrive at the stream beds,
they don’t find any water at all.
21 And now, my friends, you haven’t helped me either.
You see the horrible condition I’m in.
And that makes you afraid.
22 I’ve never said, ‘Give me something to help me.
Use your wealth to set me free.
23 Save me from the power of my enemy.
Rescue me from the power of mean people.’
24 “Teach me. Then I’ll be quiet.
Show me what I’ve done wrong.
25 Honest words are so painful!
But your reasoning doesn’t prove anything.
26 Are you trying to correct what I’m saying?
Are you treating my hopeless words like nothing but wind?
27 You would even cast lots for those whose fathers have died.
You would even trade away your closest friend.
28 “But now please look at me.
Would I tell you a lie right here in front of you?
29 Stop what you are saying. Don’t be so unfair.
Think it over again.
You are trying to take my honesty away from me.
30 Has my mouth spoken anything that is evil?
Do my lips say things that are hateful?”
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.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV) 
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.