1 Job said:

2 It's impossible to weigh

my misery and grief!

3 They outweigh the sand

along the beach,

and that's why I have spoken

without thinking first.

4 The fearsome arrows

of God All-Powerful

have filled my soul

with their poison.

5 Do oxen and wild donkeys

cry out in distress

unless they are hungry?

6 What is food without salt?

What is more tasteless

than the white of an egg?*

7 That's how my food tastes,

and my appetite is gone.

* 8 How I wish that God

would answer my prayer

9 and do away with me.

10 Then I would be comforted,

knowing that in all of my pain

I have never disobeyed God.

11 Why should I patiently hope

when my strength is gone?

12 I am not strong as stone

or bronze,

13 and I have finally reached

the end of my rope.

14 My friends, I am desperate,

and you should help me,

even if I no longer respect

God All-Powerful.*

* 15 But you are treacherous

16 like streams that swell

with melting snow,

17 then suddenly disappear

in the summer heat.

18 I am like a caravan,

lost in the desert

while searching for water.

19 Caravans from Tema and Sheba*

20 thought they would find water.

But they were disappointed,

21 just as I am with you.*

Only one look at my suffering,

and you run away scared.

22 Have I ever asked any of you

to give me a gift

23 or to purchase my freedom

from brutal enemies?

24 What have I done wrong?

Show me,

and I will keep quiet.

25 The truth is always painful,

but your arguments

prove nothing.

26 Here I am desperate,

and you consider my words

as worthless as wind.

27 Why, you would sell an orphan

or your own neighbor!

28 Look me straight in the eye;

I won't lie to you.

29 Stop accusing me falsely;

my reputation is at stake.

30 I know right from wrong,

and I am not telling lies.