A MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW

² “If only my anguish could be weighed
    and all my misery be placed on the scales!
³ It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas—
    no wonder my words have been impetuous.
⁴ The arrows of the Almighty are in me,
    my spirit drinks in their poison;
    God’s terrors are marshaled against me.
⁵ Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,
    or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
⁶ Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
    or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow^[a]?
⁷ I refuse to touch it;
    such food makes me ill.

⁸ “Oh, that I might have my request,
    that God would grant what I hope for,
⁹ that God would be willing to crush me,
    to let loose his hand and cut off my life!
¹⁰ Then I would still have this consolation—
    my joy in unrelenting pain—
    that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹ “What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
    What prospects, that I should be patient?
¹² Do I have the strength of stone?
    Is my flesh bronze?
¹³ Do I have any power to help myself,
    now that success has been driven from me?

¹⁴ “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend
    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵ But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,
    as the streams that overflow
¹⁶ when darkened by thawing ice
    and swollen with melting snow,
¹⁷ but that stop flowing in the dry season,
    and in the heat vanish from their channels.
¹⁸ Caravans turn aside from their routes;
    they go off into the wasteland and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of Tema look for water,
    the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
²⁰ They are distressed, because they had been confident;
    they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
²¹ Now you too have proved to be of no help;
    you see something dreadful and are afraid.
²² Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf,
    pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
²³ deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
    rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?

²⁴ “Teach me, and I will be quiet;
    show me where I have been wrong.
²⁵ How painful are honest words!
    But what do your arguments prove?
²⁶ Do you mean to correct what I say,
    and treat my desperate words as wind?
²⁷ You would even cast lots for the fatherless
    and barter away your friend.

²⁸ “But now be so kind as to look at me.
    Would I lie to your face?
²⁹ Relent, do not be unjust;
    reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.^[b]
30 Is there any wickedness on my lips?
    Can my mouth not discern malice?