Then Job answered and said,
Oh that my vexation were but weighed,
And all my calamity laid in the balances!
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas:
Therefore have my words been rash.
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up:
The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass?
Or loweth the ox over his fodder?
Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in {Or, the juice of purslain}the white of an egg?
{Or, What things my soul refused to touch, these are as my loathsome food}My soul refuseth to touch them;
They are as loathsome food to me.
Oh that I might have my request;
And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
Even that it would please God to crush me;
That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
And be it still my consolation,
{Or, Though I shrink back}Yea, let me {Or, harden myself}exult in pain {Or, though he spare not}that spareth not,
That I have not {Or, concealed}denied the words of the Holy One.
What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is mine end, that I should be patient?
Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh of brass?
Is it not that I have no help in me,
And that wisdom is driven quite from me?
To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his friend;
{Or, Else might he forsake Or, But he forsaketh}Even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook,
As the channel of brooks that pass away;
Which are black by reason of the ice,
And wherein the snow hideth itself:
What time they {Or, shrink}wax warm, they vanish;
When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
{Or, The paths of their way are turned aside}The caravans that travel by the way of them turn aside;
They go up into the waste, and perish.
The caravans of Tema looked,
The companies of Sheba waited for them.
They were put to shame because they had hoped;
They came thither, and were confounded.
For now ye {Another reading is, are like thereto.}are nothing;
Ye see a terror, and are afraid.
Did I say, Give unto me?
Or, Offer a present for me of your substance?
Or, Deliver me from the adversary's hand?
Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?
Teach me, and I will hold my peace;
And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
How forcible are words of uprightness!
But your reproof, what doth it reprove?
Do ye think to reprove words,
Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are {Or, for the wind}as wind?
Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless,
And make merchandise of your friend.
Now therefore be pleased to look upon me;
{Or, And it will be evident unto you if I lie}For surely I shall not lie to your face.
Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;
Yea, return again, {Hebrew: my righteousness is in it.}my cause is righteous.
Is there injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?
Querverweise zu Hiob 6,11 Hiob 6,11
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust;My skin {Or, is broken and become loathsome}closeth up, and breaketh out afresh.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,And are spent without hope.
Oh remember that my life is a breath:Mine eye shall no more see good.
Are not my days few? {Another reading is, let him cease, and leave me alone.}cease then,And let me alone, that I may {Hebrew: brighten up.}take comfort a little,
Wilt thou harass a driven leaf?And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
{Hebrew: And he is like.}Though I am like a rotten thing that consumeth,Like a garment that is moth-eaten.
My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct,The grave is ready for me.
If I have said to {Or, the pit}corruption, Thou art my father;To the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister;
Where then is my hope?And as for my hope, who shall see it?
It shall go down to the bars of Sheol,When once there is rest in the dust.
Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths;And my life-time is as nothing before thee:Surely every man {Hebrew: standing firm.}at his best estate is altogether {Hebrew: a breath.}vanity. [Selah
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep:In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up;In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
For we are consumed in thine anger,And in thy wrath are we troubled.
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath:We bring our years to an end as {Or, a sound}a sigh.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten,Or even by reason of strength fourscore years;Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow;For it is soon gone, and we fly away.
He {Another reading is, afflicted me with his strength.}weakened my strength in the way;He shortened my days.
For he knoweth our frame;He remembereth that we are dust.
As for man, his days are as grass;As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;And the place thereof shall know it no more.