6:10 Then I would yet have my comfort, 1
then 2 I would rejoice, 3
in spite of pitiless pain, 4
for 5 I have not concealed the words 6 of the Holy One. 7
6:11 What is my strength, that I should wait? 8
and what is my end, 9
that I should prolong my life?
6:12 Is my strength like that of stones? 10
or is my flesh made of bronze?
6:13 Is 11 not my power to help myself nothing,
and has not every resource 12 been driven from me?
6:14 “To the one in despair, kindness 13 should come from his friend 14
even if 15 he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
6:15 My brothers 16 have been as treacherous 17 as a seasonal stream, 18
and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams 19
that flow away. 20
6:16 They 21 are dark 22 because of ice;
snow is piled 23 up over them. 24
6:17 When they are scorched, 25 they dry up,
when it is hot, they vanish 26 from their place.
6:18 Caravans 27 turn aside from their routes;
they go 28 into the wasteland 29 and perish. 30
6:19 The caravans of Tema 31 looked intently 32 for these streams; 33
the traveling merchants 34 of Sheba hoped for them.
6:20 They were distressed, 35
because each one had been 36 so confident;
they arrived there, 37 but were disappointed.
6:21 For now 38 you have become like these streams that are no help; 39
you see a terror, 40 and are afraid.
6:22 “Have I 41 ever said, 42 ‘Give me something,
and from your fortune 43 make gifts 44 in my favor’?
6:23 Or ‘Deliver me 45 from the enemy’s power, 46
and from the hand of tyrants 47 ransom 48 me’?
6:24 “Teach 49 me and I, for my part, 50 will be silent;
explain to me 51 how I have been mistaken. 52
6:25 How painful 53 are honest words!
But 54 what does your reproof 55 prove? 56
6:26 Do you intend to criticize mere words,
and treat 57 the words of a despairing man as wind?
6:27 Yes, you would gamble 58 for the fatherless,
and auction off 59 your friend.
6:28 “Now then, be good enough to look 60 at me; 61
and I will not 62 lie to your face!
6:29 Relent, 63 let there be no falsehood; 64
reconsider, 65 for my righteousness is intact! 66
6:30 Is there any falsehood 67 on my lips?
Can my mouth 68 not discern evil things? 69