Read & explore together
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
Job answers by measuring the weight of his suffering, explaining his desperate speech, and asking his friends for kindness and honest correction rather than empty reproof.
Understanding the passage
Listening in context
This passage is part of a wisdom dialogue in which Job replies directly. He speaks of anguish and calamity, asks for release by God’s hand, compares unreliable friends to streams that dry up, and finishes by inviting true instruction if he has actually gone wrong.
Job 6:1–30Main takeaway
Job insists that deep suffering should be met with compassion and truthful correction, not unjust words.
Look closely at the words
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Anguish that feels unbearableJob wishes his anguish and calamity could be weighed. He says the load would be heavier than the sand of the seas, so his words have been rash.
02Why he speaks so stronglyJob uses everyday comparisons. Animals cry out when something is wrong, and tasteless food is hard to receive.
Explanation
Job uses everyday comparisons. Animals cry out when something is wrong, and tasteless food is hard to receive. In the same way, his outcry has a cause. He says he longs for God to cut him off, yet still says he has not denied the words of the Holy One.
03A faint person needs kindnessJob asks what strength he has left to keep waiting. He is not made of stone or bronze, and he says help has gone from within him.
04Friends like streams that failJob says his brothers are like seasonal brooks that disappear in heat. Travellers hope for water there and end in distress.
Explanation
Job says his brothers are like seasonal brooks that disappear in heat. Travellers hope for water there and end in distress. That image explains his complaint against his friends. He says he never asked them for money or rescue, but he is willing to be taught if they can show his error.
05Look again and judge justlyJob values upright words, but he questions reproof that only attacks the speech of a desperate person.
Explanation
Job values upright words, but he questions reproof that only attacks the speech of a desperate person. He asks his friends to look at him, return, and let there be no injustice. He ends by claiming his cause is righteous and asking whether his tongue can discern what is wrong.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What reason does Job give for his rash words?
02What does Job say a friend should do for someone who is ready to faint?
Answer from Job’s direct statement about kindness in the middle of the chapter.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Job 6:1–30
1Then Job answered,
2“Oh that my anguish were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!
3For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, therefore my words have been rash.
4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
5Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder?
6Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me.
8“Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for,
9even that it would please God to crush me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
10Let it still be my consolation, yes, let me exult in pain that doesn’t spare, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11What is my strength, that I should wait? What is my end, that I should be patient?
12Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of bronze?
13Isn’t it that I have no help in me, that wisdom is driven away from me?
14“To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away;
16which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself.
17In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18The caravans that travel beside them turn away. They go up into the waste, and perish.
19The caravans of Tema looked. The companies of Sheba waited for them.
20They were distressed because they were confident. They came there, and were confounded.
21For now you are nothing. You see a terror, and are afraid.
22Did I ever say, ‘Give to me’? or, ‘Offer a present for me from your substance’?
23or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’? or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors’?
24“Teach me, and I will hold my peace. Cause me to understand my error.
25How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove?
26Do you intend to reprove words, since the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind?
27Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.
28Now therefore be pleased to look at me, for surely I will not lie to your face.
29Please return. Let there be no injustice. Yes, return again. My cause is righteous.
30Is there injustice on my tongue? Can’t my taste discern mischievous things?