Job 6

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¹Then Job replied: ✦ ²“If only my grief could be weighed and placed with my calamity on the scales. ✦ ³For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas—no wonder my words have been rash. ✦ ⁴For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me. ✦ ⁵Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass, or an ox low over its fodder? ✦ ⁶Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? ✦ ⁷My soul refuses to touch them; they are loathsome food to me. ✦ ⁸If only my request were granted and God would fulfill my hope: ✦ ⁹that God would be willing to crush me, to unleash His hand and cut me off! ✦ ¹⁰It still brings me comfort, and joy through unrelenting pain, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. ✦ ¹¹What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient? ✦ ¹²Is my strength like that of stone, or my flesh made of bronze? ✦ ¹³Is there any help within me now that success is driven from me? ✦ ¹⁴A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. ✦ ¹⁵But my brothers are as faithless as wadis, as seasonal streams that overflow, ✦ ¹⁶darkened because of the ice and the inflow of melting snow, ¹⁷but ceasing in the dry season and vanishing from their channels in the heat. ✦ ¹⁸Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish. ¹⁹The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it. ✦ ²⁰They are confounded because they had hoped; their arrival brings disappointment. ✦ ²¹For now you are of no help; you see terror, and you are afraid. ✦ ²²Have I ever said, ‘Give me something; offer me a bribe from your wealth; ✦ ²³deliver me from the hand of the enemy; redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless’? ✦ ²⁴Teach me, and I will be silent. Help me understand how I have erred. ✦ ²⁵How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove? ✦ ²⁶Do you intend to correct my words, and treat as wind my cry of despair? ✦ ²⁷You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend. ✦ ²⁸But now, please look at me. Would I lie to your face? ✦ ²⁹Reconsider; do not be unjust. Reconsider, for my righteousness is at stake. ✦ ³⁰Is there iniquity on my tongue? Can my mouth not discern malice? ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Job 6 ·7 Job 13 ·6 Job 34 ·5 Job 42 ·5 Job 4 ·5 Job 16 ·4 Job 19 ·4 Job 21 ·4

Christ at the center

Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.

How Job 6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Job 6YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Job 6David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Job 6Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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