5. Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?Or the ox bellow over his fodder?
6. Is tasteless food eaten without salt?Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7. My soul refuses to touch them;they are like loathsome food to me.
8. “Oh, that I might have my request,and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9. That it would please God to crush me,that He would let loose His hand and cut me off!
10. Then I would still have comfort;I would revel in pain; it will not subside,for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
11. “What strength do I have, that I should hope?And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?
12. Is my strength the strength of stones?Or is my flesh made of brass?
13. Is there no help within me?And is success banished from me?
14. “A despairing man should be shown kindness from his friend,or he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15. My brothers have acted deceitfully like a riverbed,like the streams of the riverbeds that run dry;
16. which are dark because of the ice,and into which the snow disappears.
17. In time they are scorched; they vanish!When it is hot, they disappear from their place.
18. The caravans of their way turn aside;they go nowhere, and they perish.
19. The caravans of Tema looked,the travelers of Sheba hoped for them.
20. They were disappointed because they were confident;they arrived there and were dismayed.