Job 30
1 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.
“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
2 Yea, whereto [should] the strength of their hands [profit] me, [men] in whom vigour hath perished?
What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
3 Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert:
Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
4 They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food.
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 They are driven forth from among [men] — they cry after them as after a thief —
They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,
6 To dwell in gloomy gorges, in caves of the earth and the rocks:
so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 They bray among the bushes; under the brambles they are gathered together:
They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
8 Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land.
A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
9 And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword.
And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, yea, they spare not to spit in my face.
They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 For he hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me.
Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12 At [my] right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways;
The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them;
They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
14 They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward.
They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
15 Terrors are turned against me; they pursue mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away like a cloud.
Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16 And now my soul is poured out in me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
17 The night pierceth through my bones [and detacheth them] from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest:
Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
18 By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about as the collar of my coat.
With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry unto thee, and thou answerest me not; I stand up, and thou lookest at me.
I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.
21 Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me.
You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance.
You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.
23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living.
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
24 Indeed, no prayer [availeth] when he stretcheth out [his] hand: though they cry when he destroyeth.
Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
25 Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?
Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
26 For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.
But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
27 My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me.
I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation.
I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion of ostriches.
I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin is become black [and falleth] off me, and my bones are parched with heat.
My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
31 My harp also is [turned] to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers.
My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.
