⁸"O that I might have my request,
and that God would grant my desire;
⁹that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
¹⁰This would be my consolation;
I would even exult in pain unsparing;
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
¹¹What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?
¹²Is my strength the strength of stones,
or is my flesh bronze?
¹³In truth I have no help in me,
and any resource is driven from me.

¹⁴"He who withholds kindness from a friend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵My brethren are treacherous
as a torrent-bed, as freshets that pass away,
¹⁶which are dark with ice,
and where the snow hides itself.
¹⁷In time of heat they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
¹⁸The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste, and perish.
¹⁹The caravans of Tema look,
the travellers of Sheba hope.
²⁰They are disappointed because they were confident;
they come thither and are confounded.
²¹Such you have now become to me;
you see my calamity, and are afraid.
²²Have I said, 'Make me a gift'?
Or, 'From your wealth offer a bribe for me?'
²³Or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand'?
Or, 'Ransom me from the hand of oppressors?'

²⁴"Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have erred.
²⁵How forceful are honest words!
But what does reproof from you reprove?
²⁶Do you think that you can reprove words,
when the speech of a despairing man is wind?
²⁷You would even cast lots over the fatherless,
and bargain over your friend.
²⁸"But now, be pleased to look at me;
for I will not lie to your face.
²⁹Turn, I pray, let no wrong be done.
Turn now, my vindication is at stake.
³⁰Is there any wrong in my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern calamity?