Job 6

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¹Then Job spoke again: ✦ ²“If my misery could be weighed and my troubles be put on the scales, ✦ ³they would outweigh all the sands of the sea. That is why I spoke impulsively. ✦ ⁴For the Almighty has struck me down with his arrows. Their poison infects my spirit. God’s terrors are lined up against me. ✦ ⁵Don’t I have a right to complain? Don’t wild donkeys bray when they find no grass, and oxen bellow when they have no food? ✦ ⁶Don’t people complain about unsalted food? Does anyone want the tasteless white of an egg? ✦ ⁷My appetite disappears when I look at it; I gag at the thought of eating it! ✦ ⁸“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant my desire. ✦ ⁹I wish he would crush me. I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me. ✦ ¹⁰At least I can take comfort in this: Despite the pain, I have not denied the words of the Holy One. ✦ ¹¹But I don’t have the strength to endure. I have nothing to live for. ✦ ¹²Do I have the strength of a stone? Is my body made of bronze? ✦ ¹³No, I am utterly helpless, without any chance of success. ✦ ¹⁴“One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty. ✦ ¹⁵My brothers, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook that overflows its banks in the spring ✦ ¹⁶when it is swollen with ice and melting snow. ¹⁷But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears. The brook vanishes in the heat. ✦ ¹⁸The caravans turn aside to be refreshed, but there is nothing to drink, so they die. ¹⁹The caravans from Tema search for this water; the travelers from Sheba hope to find it. ✦ ²⁰They count on it but are disappointed. When they arrive, their hopes are dashed. ✦ ²¹You, too, have given no help. You have seen my calamity, and you are afraid. ✦ ²²But why? Have I ever asked you for a gift? Have I begged for anything of yours for myself? ✦ ²³Have I asked you to rescue me from my enemies, or to save me from ruthless people? ✦ ²⁴Teach me, and I will keep quiet. Show me what I have done wrong. ✦ ²⁵Honest words can be painful, but what do your criticisms amount to? ✦ ²⁶Do you think your words are convincing when you disregard my cry of desperation? ✦ ²⁷You would even send an orphan into slavery or sell a friend. ✦ ²⁸Look at me! Would I lie to your face? ✦ ²⁹Stop assuming my guilt, for I have done no wrong. ✦ ³⁰Do you think I am lying? Don’t I know the difference between right and wrong? ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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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