Job 30
1 But now, those younger in years scorn me, whose fathers I would not have seen fit to place with the dogs of my flock,
But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 the strength of whose hands was nothing to me, and they were considered unworthy of life itself.
Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me? men in whom ripe age is perished.
3 They were barren from poverty and hunger; they gnawed in solitude, layered with misfortune and misery.
They are gaunt with want and famine; they gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.
4 And they chewed grass and the bark from trees, and the root of junipers was their food.
They pluck salt-wort with wormwood; and the roots of the broom are their food.
5 They took these things from the steep valleys, and when they discovered one of these things, they rushed to the others with a cry.
They are driven forth from the midst of men; they cry after them as after a thief.
6 They lived in the parched desert and in caves underground or above the rocks.
In the clefts of the valleys must they dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 They rejoiced among these kinds of things, and they considered it delightful to be under thorns.
Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they are gathered together.
8 These are the sons of foolish and base men, not even paying any attention to the land.
They are children of churls, yea, children of ignoble men; they were scourged out of the land.
9 Now I become their song, and I have been made into their proverb.
And now I am become their song, yea, I am a byword unto them.
10 They loathe me, and so they flee far from me, and they are not reluctant to spit in my face.
They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
11 For he has opened his quiver and has afflicted me, and he has placed a bridle in my mouth.
For He hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, and they have cast off the bridle before me.
12 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.
Upon my right hand rise the brood; they entangle my feet, and they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
13 They have diverted my journeys; they have waited to ambush me, and they have prevailed, and there was no one who might bring help.
They break up my path, they further my calamity, even men that have no helper.
14 They have rushed upon me, as when a wall is broken or a gate opened, and they have been pulled down into my miseries.
As through a wide breach they come; in the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.
15 I have been reduced to nothing. You have taken away my desire like a wind, and my health has passed by like a cloud.
Terrors are turned upon me, they chase mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away as a cloud.
16 But now my soul withers within myself, and the days of affliction take hold of me.
And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 At night, my bone is pierced with sorrows, and those who feed on me, do not sleep.
In the night my bones are pierced, and fall from me, and my sinews take no rest.
18 By the sheer number of them my clothing is worn away, and they have closed in on me like the collar of my coat.
By the great force of my disease is my garment disfigured; it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
19 I have been treated like dirt, and I have been turned into embers and ashes.
He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you, and you do not heed me. I stand up, and you do not look back at me.
I cry unto Thee, and Thou dost not answer me; I stand up, and Thou lookest at me.
21 You have changed me into hardness, and, with the hardness of your hand, you oppose me.
Thou art turned to be cruel to me; with the might of Thy hand Thou hatest me.
22 You have lifted me up, and, placing me as if on the wind, you have thrown me down powerfully.
Thou liftest me up to the wind, Thou causest me to ride upon it; and Thou dissolvest my substance.
23 I know that you will hand me over to death, where a home has been established for all the living.
For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
24 Truly, then, you do not extend your hand in order to consume them, and if they fall down, you will save them.
Surely none shall put forth his hand to a ruinous heap, neither because of these things shall help come in one's calamity,
25 Once, I wept over him who was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.
If I have not wept for him that was in trouble, and if my soul grieved not for the needy.
26 I expected good things, but evil things have come to me. I stood ready for light, yet darkness burst forth.
Yet, when I looked for good, there came evil; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My insides have seethed, without any rest, for the days of affliction have prevented it.
Mine inwards boil, and rest not; days of affliction are come upon me.
28 I went forth mourning, without anger, and rising up, I cried out in confusion.
I go mourning without the sun; I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
29 I was the brother of snakes, and the companion of ostriches.
I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.
30 My skin has become blackened over me, and my bones have dried up because of the heat.
My skin is black, and falleth from me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31 My harp has been turned into mourning, and my pipes have been turned into a voice of weeping.
Therefore is my harp turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of them that weep.
