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 6,26 Hiob 6,26
But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the {Or, impious}foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
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.
How long wilt thou speak these things?And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a mighty wind?
Let the day perish wherein I was born,And the night which said, There is a man-child conceived.
Let that day be darkness;Let not God from above seek for it,Neither let the light shine upon it.
Let darkness and {Or, deep darkness (and so elsewhere)}the shadow of death claim it for their own;Let a cloud dwell upon it;Let all that maketh black the day terrify it.
As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it:Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;Let it not come into the number of the months.
Lo, let that night be {Or, solitary}barren;Let no joyful voice come therein.
Let them curse it that curse the day,Who are {Or, skilful}ready to rouse up leviathan.
Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark:Let it look for light, but have none;Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:
Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb,Nor hid trouble from mine eyes.
Why died I not from the womb?Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me?
Why did the knees receive me?Or why the breast, that I should suck?
For now should I have lain down and been quiet;I should have slept; then had I been at rest,
With kings and counsellors of the earth,Who {Or, built solitary piles}built up waste places for themselves;
Or with princes that had gold,Who filled their houses with silver
Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been,As infants that never saw light.
There the wicked cease from {Or, raging}troubling;And there the weary are at rest.
There the prisoners are at ease together;They hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
The small and the great are there:And the servant is free from his master.
Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery,And life unto the bitter in soul;
Who {Hebrew: wait.}long for death, but it cometh not,And dig for it more than for hid treasures;
Who rejoice {Or, unto exultation}exceedingly,And are glad, when they can find the grave?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hid,And whom God hath hedged in?
For my sighing cometh {Or, like my food}before I eat,And my {Hebrew: roarings.}groanings are poured out like water.
For {Or, the thing which I feared is come &c.}the thing which I fear cometh upon me,And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.
I {Or, was not at ease…yet trouble came}am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest;But trouble cometh.
Even that it would please God to crush me;That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he continually multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
Behold, thou hast instructed many,And thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
My soul is weary of my life;I will give free course to my complaint;I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
Thy words have upholden him that was falling,And thou hast made firm the {Hebrew: bowing.}feeble knees.
For the ear trieth words,As the palate tasteth food.
Let us choose for us that which is right:Let us know among ourselves what is good.
For Job hath said, I am righteous,And God hath taken away my right:
{Or, Should I lie against my right?}Notwithstanding my right I am accounted a liar; {Hebrew: Mine arrow.}My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.
What man is like Job,Who drinketh up scoffing like water,
Who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity,And walketh with wicked men?
For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothingThat he should {Or, consent with See Psalm 50:18}delight himself with God.
Who is this that darkeneth counselBy words without knowledge?
Once have I spoken, and I will not answer;Yea, twice, but I will proceed no further.
Wilt thou even annul my judgment?Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified?
Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge?Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not,Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
And it was so, that, after Jehovah had spoken these words unto Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.