3. For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash and wild,
4. [But it is] because the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison which my spirit drinks up; the terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
5. Does the wild ass bray when it has grass? Or does the ox low over its fodder?
6. Can that which has no taste to it be eaten without salt? Or is there any flavor in the white of an egg?
7. [These afflictions] my soul refuses to touch! Such things are like diseased food to me [sickening and repugnant]!
8. Oh, that I might have my request, and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9. I even wish that it would please God to crush me, that He would let loose His hand and cut me off!
10. Then would I still have consolation–yes, I would leap [for joy] amid unsparing pain [though I shrink from it]–that I have not concealed or denied the words of the Holy One!
11. What strength have I left, that I should wait and hope? And what is ahead of me, that I should be patient?
12. Is my strength and endurance that of stones? Or is my flesh made of bronze?
13. Is it not that I have no help in myself, and that wisdom is quite driven from me?
14. To him who is about to faint and despair, kindness is due from his friend, lest he forsake the fear of the Almighty.
15. [You] my brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away,
16. Which are black and turbid by reason of the ice, and in which the snows hides itself;