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Then Iyov answered and said:
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“If only my provocation were fully weighed, and my ruin lifted together in the balances!
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For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words have been rash.
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For the arrows of Shaddai are within me; my ruach drinks their poison. The terrors of Eloah arrange themselves against me.
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Does the wild donkey bray over grass, or does an ox low over its fodder?
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Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?
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My being refuses to touch them; they are as disease in my bread.
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Who shall grant that my request come, and that Eloah give my hope—
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that Eloah be willing to crush me, that He release His hand and cut me off?
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Yet this would still be my comfort, and I would leap in pain He did not spare, for I have not concealed the Words of the Set-Apart One.
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What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should prolong my being?
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Is my strength the strength of stones? Is my flesh bronze?
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Is there no help for me within me? Has sound counsel been driven away from me?
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To the one melting in despair, covenant-faithfulness is due from his companion, even if he forsakes the fear of Shaddai.
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My brothers have dealt treacherously like a torrent, like channels of torrents that pass away—
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those darkened by ice, in which snow hides itself.
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When they are scorched, they vanish; in the heat they are extinguished from their place.
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The paths of their way turn aside; they ascend into emptiness and perish.
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The caravans of Teima looked; the traveling companies of Sheva waited for them.
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They were ashamed because they had trusted; they came there and were humiliated.
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For now you have become nothing; you see terror and are afraid.
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Did I say, ‘Give to me,’ or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your strength’?
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Or, ‘Deliver me from the hand of an adversary,’ or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of terrifying ones’?
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Teach me, and I shall be silent; cause me to understand where I have strayed.
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How forceful are upright words! But what does correction from you correct?
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Do you devise to correct words, while the sayings of one in despair are as wind?
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Indeed, you cast lots over the fatherless and barter over your companion.
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And now, be willing to turn toward me, for surely I shall not lie before your faces.
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Return, please; let there be no crookedness. Return again; my righteousness is still in this.
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Is there crookedness upon my tongue? Can my palate not discern ruin?