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 who are of fewer days than I, have poured derision upon me; whose fathers I refused—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?
Even the strength of their hands, wherefore was it mine? Upon them, vigour was lost;
3 Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
In want and hunger, they were lean, —who used to gnaw the dry ground, a dark night of desolation!
4 They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
Who used to pluck off the mallow by the bushes, with the root of the broom for their food;
5 They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,
Out of the midst, were they driven, men shouted 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.
In the fissures, of the ravines had they to dwell, in holes of dust and crags;
7 They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
Among the bushes, used they to shriek, Under the bramble, were they huddled together:
8 A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
Sons of the base, yea sons of the nameless, they were scourged out of the land.
9 And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
But, now, their song, have I become, Yea I serve them for a byword;
10 They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
They abhor me—have put themselves far from me, and, from my face, have not withheld—spittle!
11 Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
Because, my girdle, he had loosened and had humbled me, therefore, the bridle—in my presence, cast they off;
12 The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
On my right hand, the young brood rose up, —My feet, they thrust aside, and cast up against me their earthworks of destruction;
13 They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
They brake up my path, —My engulfing ruin, they helped forward, unaided;
14 They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
As through a wide breach, came they on, with a crashing noise, they rolled themselves along.
15 Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
There are turned upon me terrors, —Chased away as with a wind, is mine abundance, and, as a cloud, hath passed away my prosperity.
16 And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
Now, therefore, over myself, my soul poureth itself out, There seize me days of affliction:
17 Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
Night, boreth, my bones, all over me, —and, my sinews, find no rest;
18 With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
Most effectually, is my skin disfigured, —Like the collar of my tunic, it girdeth me about:
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 out for help unto thee, and thou dost not answer, I stand still, and thou dost gaze at me;
21 You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
Thou art turned to become a cruel one unto me, With the might of thy hand, thou assailest me;
22 You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.
Thou liftest up me to the wind, thou carriest me away, and the storm maketh me faint;
23 Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
For I know that, unto death, thou wilt bring me back, even unto the house of meeting for every one living.
24 Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
Only, against a heap of ruins, will one not thrust a hand! Surely, when one is in calamity—for that very reason, is there an outcry for help.
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
Verily I wept, for him whose lot was hard, Grieved was my soul, for the needy.
26 But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
Surely, for good, I looked, but there came in evil, And I waited for light, but there came in darkness;
27 I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
I boiled within me, and rested not, There confronted me—days of affliction;
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
In gloom, I walked along, without sun, I arose—in the convocation, I cried out for help;
29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
A brother, became I to the brutes that howl, and a companion to the birds that screech:
30 My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
My skin, turned black, and peeled off me, and, my bones, burned with heat:
31 My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.
Thus is attuned to mourning—my lyre, and my flute, to the noise of them who weep.
