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,
And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed 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.
Also — the power of their hands, why [is it] to me? On them hath old age perished.
3 They were barren from poverty and hunger; they gnawed in solitude, layered with misfortune and misery.
With want and with famine gloomy, Those fleeing to a dry place, Formerly a desolation and waste,
4 And they chewed grass and the bark from trees, and the root of junipers was their food.
Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And broom-roots [is] 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.
From the midst they are cast out, (They shout against them as a thief),
6 They lived in the parched desert and in caves underground or above the rocks.
In a frightful place of valleys to dwell, Holes of earth and clefts.
7 They rejoiced among these kinds of things, and they considered it delightful to be under thorns.
Among shrubs they do groan, Under nettles they are gathered together.
8 These are the sons of foolish and base men, not even paying any attention to the land.
Sons of folly — even sons without name, They have been smitten from the land.
9 Now I become their song, and I have been made into their proverb.
And now, their song I have been, And I am to them for a byword.
10 They loathe me, and so they flee far from me, and they are not reluctant to spit in my face.
They have abominated me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.
11 For he has opened his quiver and has afflicted me, and he has placed a bridle in my mouth.
Because His cord He loosed and afflicteth me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.
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.
On the right hand doth a brood arise, My feet they have cast away, And they raise up against me, Their paths of calamity.
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 have broken down my path, By my calamity they profit, 'He hath 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 a wide breach they come, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
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.
He hath turned against me terrors, It pursueth as the wind mine abundance, And as a thick cloud, Hath my safety passed away.
16 But now my soul withers within myself, and the days of affliction take hold of me.
And now, in me my soul poureth itself out, Seize me do days of affliction.
17 At night, my bone is pierced with sorrows, and those who feed on me, do not sleep.
At night my bone hath been pierced in me, And mine eyelids do not lie down.
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 abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it doth gird me.
19 I have been treated like dirt, and I have been turned into embers and ashes.
Casting me into 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 have stood, and Thou dost consider me.
21 You have changed me into hardness, and, with the hardness of your hand, you oppose me.
Thou art turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Thy hand, Thou oppressest me.
22 You have lifted me up, and, placing me as if on the wind, you have thrown me down powerfully.
Thou dost lift me up, On the wind Thou dost cause me to ride, And Thou meltest — Thou levellest me.
23 I know that you will hand me over to death, where a home has been established for all the living.
For I have known To death Thou dost bring me back, 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 not against the heap Doth He send forth the hand, Though in its ruin they have safety.
25 Once, I wept over him who was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.
Did not I weep for him whose day is hard? Grieved hath my soul for the needy.
26 I expected good things, but evil things have come to me. I stood ready for light, yet darkness burst forth.
When good I expected, then cometh evil, And I wait for light, and darkness cometh.
27 My insides have seethed, without any rest, for the days of affliction have prevented it.
My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Gone before me have days of affliction.
28 I went forth mourning, without anger, and rising up, I cried out in confusion.
Mourning I have gone without the sun, I have risen, in an assembly I cry.
29 I was the brother of snakes, and the companion of ostriches.
A brother I have been to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
30 My skin has become blackened over me, and my bones have dried up because of the heat.
My skin hath been black upon me, And my bone hath burned from heat,
31 My harp has been turned into mourning, and my pipes have been turned into a voice of weeping.
And my harp doth become mourning, And my organ the sound of weeping.
