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 they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
Yea, whereto [should] the strength of their hands [profit] me, [men] in whom vigour hath perished?
3 Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert:
4 They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food.
5 They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,
They are driven forth from among [men] — they cry after them as after a thief —
6 so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
To dwell in gloomy gorges, in caves of the earth and the rocks:
7 They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
They bray among the bushes; under the brambles they are gathered together:
8 A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land.
9 And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword.
10 They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, yea, they spare not 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 hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me.
12 The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
At [my] right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways;
13 They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them;
14 They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward.
15 Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
Terrors are turned against me; they pursue mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away like a cloud.
16 And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
And now my soul is poured out in me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
The night pierceth through my bones [and detacheth them] from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest:
18 With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust 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 unto thee, and thou answerest me not; I stand up, and thou lookest at me.
21 You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me.
22 You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.
Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance.
23 Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living.
24 Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
Indeed, no prayer [availeth] when he stretcheth out [his] hand: though they cry when he destroyeth.
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?
26 But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.
27 I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation.
29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
My skin is become black [and falleth] off me, and my bones are parched with heat.
31 My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.
My harp also is [turned] to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers.
