6 2 "O that my vexation were weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
6 3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
6 4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
6 5 Does the wild ass bray when he has grass,
or the ox low over his fodder?
6 6 Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any taste in the slime of the purslane?
6 7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are as food that is loathsome to me.
6 8 "O that I might have my request,
and that God would grant my desire;
6 9 that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
6 10 This would be my consolation;
I would even exult in pain unsparing;
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
6 11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?
6 12 Is my strength the strength of stones,
or is my flesh bronze?
6 13 In truth I have no help in me,
and any resource is driven from me.
6 14 "He who withholds kindness from a friend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
6 15 My brethren are treacherous
as a torrent-bed, as freshets that pass away,
6 16 which are dark with ice,
and where the snow hides itself.
6 17 In time of heat they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
6 18 The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste, and perish.
6 19 The caravans of Tema look,
the travellers of Sheba hope.
6 20 They are disappointed because they were confident;
they come thither and are confounded.
6 21 Such you have now become to me;
you see my calamity, and are afraid.
6 22 Have I said, 'Make me a gift'?
Or, 'From your wealth offer a bribe for me?'
6 23 Or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand'?
Or, 'Ransom me from the hand of oppressors?'
6 24 "Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have erred.
6 25 How forceful are honest words!
But what does reproof from you reprove?
6 26 Do you think that you can reprove words,
when the speech of a despairing man is wind?
6 27 You would even cast lots over the fatherless,
and bargain over your friend.
6 28 "But now, be pleased to look at me;
for I will not lie to your face.
6 29 Turn, I pray, let no wrong be done.
Turn now, my vindication is at stake.
6 30 Is there any wrong in my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern calamity?
7 1 "Has not man a hard service upon earth,
and are not his days like the days of a hireling?
7 2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
and like a hireling who looks for his wages,
7 3 so I am allotted months of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
7 4 When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?'
But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
7 5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.
7 6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
and come to their end without hope.
7 7 "Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.
7 8 The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;
while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.
7 9 As the cloud fades and vanishes,
so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;
7 10 he returns no more to his house,
nor does his place know him any more.
7 11 "Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
7 12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
7 13 When I say, 'My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,'
7 14 then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
7 15 so that I would choose strangling
and death rather than my bones.
7 16 I loathe my life; I would not live for ever.
Let me alone, for my days are a breath.
7 17 What is man, that you make so much of him,
and that you set your mind upon him,
7 18 visits him every morning,
and test him every moment?
7 19 How long will you not look away from me,
nor let me alone till I swallow my spittle?
7 20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of men?
Why have you made me your mark?
Why have I become a burden to you?
7 21 Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
you will seek me, but I shall not be."