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Then Job replied:
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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 1 ?
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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. 2
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Is there any wickedness on my lips?
Can my mouth not discern malice?