7. I refuse to touch them;they are like loathsome food to me.
8. Oh, that I might have my request,and that God would grant what I long for:
9. Even that God would decide to crush me,that he would put forth his hand and cut me off!
10. Then I should still have consolationand could exult through unremitting pain,because I have not transgressed the commands of the Holy One.
11. What strength have I that I should endure,and what is my limit that I should be patient?
12. Have I the strength of stones,or is my flesh of bronze?
13. Have I no helper,and has my good sense deserted me?
14. A friend owes kindness to one in despair,though he has forsaken the fear of the Almighty.
15. My companions are undependable as a wadi,as watercourses that run dry in the wadies;
16. Though they may be black with ice,and with snow heaped upon them,
17. Yet once they flow, they cease to be;in the heat, they disappear from their place.
18. Caravans wander from their routes;they go into the wasteland and perish.
19. The caravans of Tema search,the companies of Sheba have hopes;
20. They are disappointed, though they were confident;they come there and are frustrated.
21. It is thus that you have now become for me;you see a terrifying thing and are afraid.
22. Have I said, “Give me something,make a bribe on my behalf from your possessions”?
23. Or “Deliver me from the hand of the enemy,redeem me from oppressors”?
24. Teach me, and I will be silent;make me understand how I have erred.
25. How painful honest words can be;yet how unconvincing is your argument!
26. Do you consider your words as proof,but the sayings of a desperate man as wind?