² Oh that my vexation were but weighed,
And all my calamity laid in the balances!
³ For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas:
Therefore have my words been rash.
⁴ 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.
⁵ Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass?
Or loweth the ox over his fodder?
⁶ Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in ^[a]the white of an egg?
^7 [b]My soul refuseth to touch them;
They are as loathsome food to me.

⁸ Oh that I might have my request;
And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
⁹ Even that it would please God to crush me;
That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
¹⁰ And be it still my consolation,
^[c]Yea, let me ^[d]exult in pain ^[e]that spareth not,
That I have not ^[f]denied the words of the Holy One.
¹¹ What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is mine end, that I should be patient?
¹² Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh of brass?
¹³ Is it not that I have no help in me,
And that wisdom is driven quite from me?

¹⁴ To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his friend;
^[g]Even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵ My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook,
As the channel of brooks that pass away;
¹⁶ Which are black by reason of the ice,
And wherein the snow hideth itself:
¹⁷ What time they ^[h]wax warm, they vanish;
When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
^18 [i]The caravans that travel by the way of them turn aside;
They go up into the waste, and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of Tema looked,
The companies of Sheba waited for them.
²⁰ They were put to shame because they had hoped;
They came thither, and were confounded.
²¹ For now ye ^[j]are nothing;
Ye see a terror, and are afraid.
²² Did I say, Give unto me?
Or, Offer a present for me of your substance?
²³ Or, Deliver me from the adversary’s hand?
Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?

²⁴ Teach me, and I will hold my peace;
And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
²⁵ How forcible are words of uprightness!
But your reproof, what doth it reprove?
²⁶ Do ye think to reprove words,
Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are ^[k]as wind?
²⁷ Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless,
And make merchandise of your friend.
²⁸ Now therefore be pleased to look upon me;
^[l]For surely I shall not lie to your face.
²⁹ Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;
Yea, return again, ^[m]my cause is righteous.
³⁰ Is there injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?