Chapter VI.
But Job answered and said: Would that my sins, for which I have deserved anger and the calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance, and that this calamity, heavier than the sand of the sea, would appear. Therefore, my words are full of pain. You say that I suffer these things because of my sins, so I wish that my sins would be weighed against this calamity that I suffer, and immediately you would see that this very calamity, like the sand of the sea, outweighs the merits of these sins.
Because the arrows of the Lord are in me, of which the indignation drinks my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord fight against me. It can be seen here, that by the name of arrows, worms are said above: by which he was continually stung, and not allowed to speak: not that the worms had such a sense as to do this by their own judgment, but by permission of God, from the power of the adversary, so that they would be more acute, even in their own movements: just like the locusts, flies, and frogs in Egypt. But when he says, 'The terrors of the Lord fight against me,' it can be understood as the devil himself and his minions. They inflicted torment on Job, seeking to cause him to lose his innocence and holiness, and threatened him with terror. Many persecutors, servants of the devil, also wished to do this to the holy martyrs. They surrounded my camp on all sides. Here he clearly shows that, like enemies and adversaries of the devil, they fought fiercely against him and his own. These evil spirits, in different ways, exercise power: for the damnation of some, the improvement of others, and the testing of still others. Depending on their own character or ministry, they are called evil, or terrors, or even robbers. He gave everything into their hands, that is, the pirates. Everything indeed that he had, whether it be my sons or his possessions: just as God also gave myself into the hands of the devil, or his followers.
Will the wild donkey roar when it has grass, or will the ox moo when it stands before a full manger? Just as those, when they have an abundance of food, do not emit any voice of complaint, in order to express that they lack food: in a similar way, he says, even I, if I were to have peace and tranquility instead of war in my limbs and in my soul, would not utter any bitter or harsh words.
Or can anything taste insipid that is not seasoned with salt? Just as nature does not allow anything insipid to be eaten, so I have done nothing insipid, nothing foolish against God, nothing that would not be seasoned with the salt of faith.
Or can anyone taste that which brings death, unless the one who tastes it is already dead? For to a hungry soul even bitter things seem sweet. Just as no one eats something deadly in order to be an enemy to their own life, so I feared that sin might come upon me.
What my soul previously did not desire to touch: now my anxieties are about my food. This is, now that the shepherd speaks with harsh and bitter words, which extort from me an immense punishment. For I used to fear to utter these things with my mouth, when I lived in holiness and righteousness with peaceful tranquility. But it must not be passed over, because Job also suffered this among his other punishments, that even his food seemed foul to him: as the smell of a lion, certainly deadly, and excessively harsh: when this odor erupted from his bowels, his food tasted to him what his internal fevers exhaled. Which he himself expresses when he says: My insides are boiling without any rest; that is, they are already cooked and spoiled.
Who will grant that my petition be heard, and that God grant me what I expect? May this be my consolation, that I obtain an end to my punishment or torment, and receive the remedy of death.
And let him who has begun, crush me himself. Let him stretch out his hand and cut me off; and let this be my consolation, that he afflicts me with pain and does not spare me: nor do I contradict his holy words. For what is my strength that I should endure: or what is my end that I should be patient? Thus Job wishes to be released from this divine power, so that by falling from it, he may fall into this temporary death, in order to escape present punishments: when, like a tree, he is cut off from this life.
Neither is the strength of stones my strength: nor is my flesh of brass. My flesh is corrupted by the filth and decay of wounds: because there is not in me such strength, like that of stones, that I do not feel pain.
Behold, there is no help for me within myself, and even my close ones have distanced themselves from me. Just as the prophet said, this applies both to oneself and to Christ's person.
He who withholds mercy from his enemy forsakes the fear of the Lord. My brothers have passed by me like a swiftly flowing stream in the valleys. Mercy is to be moved by the sorrow of the heart in order to have compassion for those who are in distress: while you do not extend it to a friend, you forsake the fear of the Lord.
Those who fear frost, snow will fall upon them. In the time when they have been scattered, they will perish. I used to fear even the smallest sins, lest God's vengeance would rage against me because of them: and behold now I am punished as if I had committed monstrous crimes.
And when they grew warm, they melted away from their place. When his name began to be famous among the people, he did not appear in the place of his glory, like snow that dissolves with heat.
The paths of their steps are twisted: they will walk in emptiness, and they will perish. He said that the paths are virtues of the soul, in which he strove diligently to please God: he says that these paths, which he suffered to be twisted and entangled with evil, were mingled with the good things of his life and the evils of punishment.
Consider the paths of Teman: the routes of Seba, and wait a little while. They are confused because I had hoped. They have also come to me, and they are covered with shame. That is, look at these places that I mentioned, and in quiet reflection, you will know that what I said is true. Look at the roads of different kingdoms: through which the crowds of all nations used to gather to me, and you will see them deserted, devoid of people.
Now you have come, and seeing my wound, you fear. Did I say: Bring me, and give me of your substance: or deliver me from the hand of the enemy, and rescue me from the hands of the mighty? Teach me, and I will be silent, and if perhaps I have ignored something, instruct me. Why do you detract from the words of truth, when there is none among you who can refute me? You only fabricate words to rebuke, and speak empty words into the wind. He says this because both his friends, following his example, feared a similar ruin for themselves. Did I not rest? Did I not dissimulate? Clearly, I exercised either patience or revenge for the evils. Did I not keep silent, restraining my tongue with silence, so as not to respond to those reproaching me with evils; or so that in the whole my injustice would not be mentioned. Therefore, in these words of truth, you detracted, since indeed you judged me deceitful not only in these matters, but also guilty in other things: when none of you is so free from sin that they could rebuke anyone with a clear conscience.
You attack a defenseless child and try to overthrow your friend. However, carry out what you have started. Listen and see if I lie. Indeed, abandoned by parents and friends.
Respond, I beseech you, without contention, and speak that which is just, and judge. And let not injustice be found in my tongue, nor foolishness resound in my mouth. Let there be no desire to contradict, for it generates the disease of contention: and only then, untouched by the darkness of animosity, will you be able to judge that which is just in me and in yourselves.