1JOB ANSWERED: 2»If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! 3»It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas, no wonder my words have been impetuous. 4»The Almightys arrows are in me. My spirit drinks in their poison. Gods terrors set themselves against me. 5»Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder? 6»Is tasteless food eaten without salt? Is there flavor in the white root of the marshmallow plant or the white of an egg? 7»I refuse to touch it! This repugnant food makes me ill. 8»Oh, that I might have my request and that God would grant what I long for. 9»Oh that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off! 10»Then I would still have this consolation, my joy in unrelenting pain, that I had not denied the words of the Holy One. 11»What strength do I have, that I should wait and hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? 12»Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh made of bronze? 13»Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me? 14»A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes his reverence for the Almighty. 15»But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow 16when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow, 17but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanishes from their channels. 18»Caravans turn aside from their routes. They go into the wasteland and perish. 19»The caravans of Tema look for water. The traveling merchants of Sheba hope and wait in vain. 20»They are distressed! They were once confident. They arrive there, only to be disappointed. 21»Now you too have proved to be of no help. You see something dreadful and are afraid. 22»Have I ever said: Give something on my behalf; pay a ransom for me from your wealth, 23deliver me from the hand of the enemy, ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless? 24»Teach me, and I will be quiet. Show me where I have been wrong. 25»Honest words are so painful! But what do your arguments prove? 26»Do you mean to correct what I say? Do you treat the words of a despairing man as wind? 27»You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend. 28»But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? 29»Relent and do not be unjust. Reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. 30»Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern destructive malice?«