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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 sap of the mallow ?
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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 off my life!
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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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“Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend 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 stop flowing in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.
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Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go off 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, rescue 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 my desperate words 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?