Job 30
1 “But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
But now, those younger in years scorn me, whose fathers I would not have seen fit to place with the dogs of my flock,
2 What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
the strength of whose hands was nothing to me, and they were considered unworthy of life itself.
3 Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
They were barren from poverty and hunger; they gnawed in solitude, layered with misfortune and misery.
4 They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
And they chewed grass and the bark from trees, and the root of junipers was their food.
5 They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,
They took these things from the steep valleys, and when they discovered one of these things, they rushed to the others with a cry.
6 so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
They lived in the parched desert and in caves underground or above the rocks.
7 They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
They rejoiced among these kinds of things, and they considered it delightful to be under thorns.
8 A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
These are the sons of foolish and base men, not even paying any attention to the land.
9 And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
Now I become their song, and I have been made into their proverb.
10 They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
They loathe me, and so they flee far from me, and they are not reluctant to spit in my face.
11 Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
For he has opened his quiver and has afflicted me, and he has placed a bridle in my mouth.
12 The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
Immediately, upon rising, my calamities rise up to the right. They have overturned my feet and have pressed me down along their way like waves.
13 They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
They have diverted my journeys; they have waited to ambush me, and they have prevailed, and there was no one who might bring help.
14 They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
They have rushed upon me, as when a wall is broken or a gate opened, and they have been pulled down into my miseries.
15 Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
I have been reduced to nothing. You have taken away my desire like a wind, and my health has passed by like a cloud.
16 And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
But now my soul withers within myself, and the days of affliction take hold of me.
17 Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
At night, my bone is pierced with sorrows, and those who feed on me, do not sleep.
18 With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
By the sheer number of them my clothing is worn away, and they have closed in on me like the collar of my coat.
19 He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
I have been treated like dirt, and I have been turned into embers and ashes.
20 I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.
I cry to you, and you do not heed me. I stand up, and you do not look back at me.
21 You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
You have changed me into hardness, and, with the hardness of your hand, you oppose me.
22 You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.
You have lifted me up, and, placing me as if on the wind, you have thrown me down powerfully.
23 Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
I know that you will hand me over to death, where a home has been established for all the living.
24 Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
Truly, then, you do not extend your hand in order to consume them, and if they fall down, you will save them.
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
Once, I wept over him who was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.
26 But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
I expected good things, but evil things have come to me. I stood ready for light, yet darkness burst forth.
27 I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
My insides have seethed, without any rest, for the days of affliction have prevented it.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
I went forth mourning, without anger, and rising up, I cried out in confusion.
29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
I was the brother of snakes, and the companion of ostriches.
30 My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
My skin has become blackened over me, and my bones have dried up because of the heat.
31 My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.
My harp has been turned into mourning, and my pipes have been turned into a voice of weeping.
