rsv Job:6-7 SEEK
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Then Job answered :
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O that my vexation were weighed ,
and all my calamity laid in the balances !
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For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea ;
therefore my words have been rash .
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For the arrows of the Almighty are in me ;
my spirit drinks their poison ;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me .
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Does the wild ass bray when he has grass ,
or the ox low over his fodder ?
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Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt ,
or is there any taste in the slime of the purslane ?
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My appetite refuses to touch them ;
they are as food that is loathsome to me .
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O that I might have my request ,
and that God would grant my desire ;
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that it would please God to crush me ,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off !
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This would be my consolation ;
I would even exult in pain unsparing ;
for I have not denied 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 be patient ?
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Is my strength the strength of stones ,
or is my flesh bronze ?
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In truth I have no help in me ,
and any resource is driven from me .
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He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty .
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My brethren are treacherous as a torrent-bed ,
as freshets that pass away ,
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which are dark with ice ,
and where the snow hides itself .
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In time of heat they disappear ;
when it is hot ,
they vanish from their place .
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The caravans turn aside from their course ;
they go up into the waste ,
and perish .
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The caravans of Tema look ,
the travelers of Sheba hope .
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They are disappointed because they were confident ;
they come thither and are confounded .
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Such you have now become to me ;
you see my calamity ,
and are afraid .
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Have I said , `
Make me a gift '?
Or , `
From your wealth offer a bribe for me '?
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Or , `
y '
s hand '?
Or , `
ppressors '?
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Teach me ,
and I will be silent ;
make me understand how I have erred .
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How forceful are honest words !
But what does reproof from you reprove ?
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Do you think that you can reprove words ,
when the speech of a despairing man is wind ?
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You would even cast lots over the fatherless ,
and bargain over your friend .
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But now ,
be pleased to look at me ;
for I will not lie to your face .
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Turn ,
I pray ,
let no wrong be done .
Turn now ,
my vindication is at stake .
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Is there any wrong on my tongue ?
Cannot my taste discern calamity ?
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Has not man a hard service upon earth ,
and are not his days like the days of a hireling ?
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Like a slave who longs for the shadow ,
and like a hireling who looks for his wages ,
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so I am allotted months of emptiness ,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me .
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When I lie down I say , `
en I lie down I say , "
When shall I arise ?'
But the night is long ,
and I am full of tossing till the dawn .
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My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt ;
my skin hardens ,
then breaks out afresh .
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My days are swifter than a weaver '
s shuttle ,
and come to their end without hope .
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Remember that my life is a breath ;
my eye will never again see good .
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The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more ;
while thy eyes are upon me ,
I shall be gone .
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As the cloud fades and vanishes ,
so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up ;
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he returns no more to his house ,
nor does his place know him any more .
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Therefore I will not restrain my mouth ;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit ;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul .
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Am I the sea ,
or a sea monster ,
that thou settest a guard over me ?
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When I say , `
en I say , "
My bed will comfort me ,
my couch will ease my complaint ,'
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then thou dost scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions ,
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so that I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones .
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I loathe my life ;
I would not live for ever .
Let me alone ,
for my days are a breath .
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What is man ,
that thou dost make so much of him ,
and that thou dost set thy mind upon him ,
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dost visit him every morning ,
and test him every moment ?
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How long wilt thou not look away from me ,
nor let me alone till I swallow my spittle ?
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If I sin ,
what do I do to thee ,
thou watcher of men ?
Why hast thou made me thy mark ?
Why have I become a burden to thee ?
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Why dost thou not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity ?
For now I shall lie in the earth ;
thou wilt seek me ,
but I shall not be ."
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Then Bildad the Shuhite answered :