Job 6:14-30 - You Have Not Treated Me Like True Friends

¹⁴ A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends,
even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵ My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi,
as seasonal streams that overflow
¹⁶ and become darkened because of ice,
and the snow melts into them.
¹⁷ The wadis evaporate in warm weather;
they disappear from their channels in hot weather.
¹⁸ Caravans turn away from their routes,
go up into the desert, and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of Tema look for these streams.
The traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.
²⁰ They are ashamed because they had been confident of finding water.
When they arrive there, they are frustrated.
²¹ So this is what you have now become to me.
When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.
²² Have I ever said: “Give me something”
or “Pay a bribe for me from your wealth”
²³ or “Deliver me from the enemy’s power”
or “Redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless”?

²⁴ Teach me, and I will be silent.
Help me understand what I did wrong.
²⁵ How painful honest words can be!
But what does your rebuke prove?
²⁶ Do you think that you can disprove my words
or that a despairing man’s words are mere wind?
²⁷ No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child
and negotiate a price to sell your friend.

²⁸ But now, please look at me;
would I lie to your face?
²⁹ Reconsider; don’t be unjust.
Reconsider; my righteousness is still the issue.
³⁰ Is there injustice on my tongue
or can my palate not taste disaster?

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