## Job Answers Eliphaz 

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Then Job answered and said, 

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"Oh that my vexation were actually weighed And laid in the balances together with my destruction! 

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For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; Therefore my words have been rash. 

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For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, Their poison my spirit drinks; The horrors of God are arranged against me. 

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Does the wild donkey bray over _his_ grass, Or does the ox low over his fodder? 

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Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, Or is there any taste in the slime of a yolk? 

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My soul refuses to touch _them_; They are like loathsome food to me. 

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"Oh that my request might come to pass, And that God would grant my hope! 

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Would that God were willing to crush me, That He would release His hand and cut me off! 

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But it is still my comfort, And I rejoice in unsparing pain, That I have not _at all_ hidden away the words of the Holy One. 

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What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should endure? 

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Is my strength the strength of stones, Or is my flesh bronze? 

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Is it that there is no help within me, And that the _success_ of sound wisdom is driven from me? 

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"For the despairing man lovingkindness _should be_ from his friend; But he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 

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My brothers have betrayed _me_ like a wadi, Like the torrents of wadis which pass away, 

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Which grow dark because of ice _And_ upon which the snow hides itself. 

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When they become waterless, they are silent; When it is hot, they vanish from their place. 

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The paths of their course wind along; They go up into a formless _place_ and perish. 

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The caravans of Tema looked; The travelers of Sheba hoped for them. 

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They were ashamed for they had trusted; They came there and were humiliated. 

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Indeed, you have now become such; You see a terror and are afraid. 

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Have I said, 'Give me _something_,' Or, 'Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,' 

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Or, 'Give me escape from the hand of the adversary,' Or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless men'? 

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"Instruct me, and I will be silent; And cause me to understand how I have erred. 

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How painful are upright words! But what does your reproof prove? 

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Do you think to reprove _my_ words, Or _think_ of the words of one in despair as wind? 

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You would even cast _lots_ for the orphans And bargain over your friend. 

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So now be willing to face me, And _see_ if I lie to your face. 

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Now turn _from this_, let there be no unrighteousness; Even turn _from this_, my righteousness is yet in it. 

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Is there unrighteousness on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern destruction?