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 that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
2 Yea, whereto [should] the strength of their hands [profit] me, [men] in whom vigour hath perished?
Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
3 Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert:
For lack and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
4 They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food.
Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their food.
5 They are driven forth from among [men] — they cry after them as after a thief —
They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief; )
6 To dwell in gloomy gorges, in caves of the earth and the rocks:
To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
7 They bray among the bushes; under the brambles they are gathered together:
Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
8 Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land.
They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.
9 And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword.
And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.
10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, yea, they spare not to spit in my face.
They detest me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
11 For he hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me.
Because he has loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.
12 At [my] right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways;
Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them;
They ruin my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
14 They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward.
They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
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 upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passes away as 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 upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 The night pierceth through my bones [and detacheth them] from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest:
My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.
18 By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about as the collar of my coat.
By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it binds me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
He has cast me into the mire, and I am 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 unto you, and you do not hear me: I stand up, and you regard me not.
21 Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me.
You are become cruel to me: with your strong hand you oppose yourself against me.
22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance.
You lift me up to the wind; you cause me to ride upon it, and dissolve my substance.
23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living.
For I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
24 Indeed, no prayer [availeth] when he stretcheth out [his] hand: though they cry when he destroyeth.
Nevertheless he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
25 Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?
Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.
When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me.
My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation.
I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
29 I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion of ostriches.
I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
30 My skin is become black [and falleth] off me, and my bones are parched with heat.
My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31 My harp also is [turned] to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers.
My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
