The Message Bible MSG
World English Bible WEB
1 Job answered:
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Then Job answered,
2 "If my misery could be weighed, if you could pile the whole bitter load on the scales,
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"Oh that my anguish were weighed, And all my calamity laid in the balances!
3 It would be heavier than all the sand of the sea! Is it any wonder that I'm screaming like a caged cat?
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For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, Therefore have my words been rash.
4 The arrows of God Almighty are in me, poison arrows - and I'm poisoned all through! God has dumped the whole works on me.
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For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
5 Donkeys bray and cows moo when they run out of pasture - so don't expect me to keep quiet in this.
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Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder?
6 Do you see what God has dished out for me? It's enough to turn anyone's stomach!
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Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 Everything in me is repulsed by it - it makes me sick. Pressed Past the Limits
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My soul refuses to touch them; They are as loathsome food to me.
8 "All I want is an answer to one prayer, a last request to be honored:
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"Oh that I might have my request; That God would grant the thing that I long for!
9 Let God step on me - squash me like a bug, and be done with me for good.
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Even that it would please God to crush me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
10 I'd at least have the satisfaction of not having blasphemed the Holy God, before being pressed past the limits.
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Be it still my consolation, Yes, let me exult in pain that doesn't spare, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 Where's the strength to keep my hopes up? What future do I have to keep me going?
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What is my strength, that I should wait? What is my end, that I should be patient?
12 Do you think I have nerves of steel? Do you think I'm made of iron?
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Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?
13 Do you think I can pull myself up by my bootstraps? Why, I don't even have any boots! My So-Called Friends
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Isn't it that I have no help in me, That wisdom is driven quite from me?
14 "When desperate people give up on God Almighty, their friends, at least, should stick with them.
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"To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; Even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 But my brothers are fickle as a gulch in the desert - one day they're gushing with water
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My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, As the channel of brooks that pass away;
16 From melting ice and snow cascading out of the mountains,
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Which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself:
17 But by midsummer they're dry, gullies baked dry in the sun.
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In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18 Travelers who spot them and go out of their way for a drink, end up in a waterless gulch and die of thirst.
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The caravans that travel beside them turn aside; They go up into the waste, and perish.
19 Merchant caravans from Tema see them and expect water, tourists from Sheba hope for a cool drink.
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The caravans of Tema looked, The companies of Sheba waited for them.
20 They arrive so confident - but what a disappointment! They get there, and their faces fall!
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They were put to shame because they had hoped; They came there, and were confounded.
21 And you, my so-called friends, are no better - there's nothing to you! One look at a hard scene and you shrink in fear.
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For now you are nothing. You see a terror, and are afraid.
22 It's not as though I asked you for anything - I didn't ask you for one red cent -
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Did I say, 'Give to me?' Or, 'Offer a present for me from your substance?'
23 Nor did I beg you to go out on a limb for me. So why all this dodging and shuffling?
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Or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand?' Or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?'
24 "Confront me with the truth and I'll shut up, show me where I've gone off the track.
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"Teach me, and I will hold my peace; Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 Honest words never hurt anyone, but what's the point of all this pious bluster?
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How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove?
26 You pretend to tell me what's wrong with my life, but treat my words of anguish as so much hot air.
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Do you intend to reprove words, Seeing that the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind?
27 Are people mere things to you? Are friends just items of profit and loss?
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Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, And make merchandise of your friend.
28 "Look me in the eyes! Do you think I'd lie to your face?
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Now therefore be pleased to look at me, For surely I shall not lie to your face.
29 Think it over - no double-talk! Think carefully - my integrity is on the line!
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Please return. Let there be no injustice; Yes, return again, my cause is righteous.
30 Can you detect anything false in what I say? Don't you trust me to discern good from evil?
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Is there injustice on my tongue? Can't my taste discern mischievous things?