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 6,15 Hiob 6,15
All {Hebrew: the men of my council.}my familiar friends abhor me,And they whom I loved are turned against me.
Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou indeed be unto me as a deceitful brook, as waters that {Hebrew: are not sure.}fail?
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague;And my kinsmen stand afar off.
These are they who are {Or, spots}hidden rocks in your love-feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,Who did eat of my bread,Hath lifted up his heel against me.
For it was not an enemy that reproached me;Then I could have borne it:Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me;Then I would have hid myself from him:
But it was thou, a man mine equal,My companion, and my familiar friend.
We took sweet counsel together;We walked in the house of God with the throng.
Lover and friend hast thou put far from me,And mine acquaintance {Or, are darkness}into darkness.
Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders.
And they will {Or, mock}deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity.
All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the {Or, multitude}greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased.
Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a {Or, confidant}friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
I speak not of you all: I know whom I {Or, chose}have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled: {Psalm 41:9.}He that eateth {Many ancient authorities read his bread with me.}my bread lifted up his heel against me.
Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.