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;
17. When they get warm, they shrink and disappear; when it is hot, they vanish out of their place.
18. The caravans which travel by way of them turn aside; they go into the waste places and perish. [Such is my disappointment in you, the friends I fully trusted.]
19. The caravans of Tema looked [for water], the companies of Sheba waited for them [in vain].
20. They were confounded because they had hoped [to find water]; they came there and were bitterly disappointed.
21. Now to me you are [like a dried-up brook]; you see my dismay and terror, and [believing me to be a victim of God's anger] you are afraid [to sympathize with me].