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.
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 Yea, whereto [should] the strength of their hands [profit] me, [men] in whom vigour hath perished?
Also — the power of their hands, why [is it] to me? On them hath old age perished.
3 Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert:
With want and with famine gloomy, Those fleeing to a dry place, Formerly a desolation and waste,
4 They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food.
Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And broom-roots [is] their food.
5 They are driven forth from among [men] — they cry after them as after a thief —
From the midst they are cast out, (They shout against them as a thief),
6 To dwell in gloomy gorges, in caves of the earth and the rocks:
In a frightful place of valleys to dwell, Holes of earth and clefts.
7 They bray among the bushes; under the brambles they are gathered together:
Among shrubs they do groan, Under nettles they are gathered together.
8 Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land.
Sons of folly — even sons without name, They have been smitten from the land.
9 And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword.
And now, their song I have been, And I am to them for a byword.
10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, yea, they spare not 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 hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me.
Because His cord He loosed and afflicteth me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.
12 At [my] right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways;
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 mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them;
They have broken down my path, By my calamity they profit, 'He hath no helper.'
14 They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward.
As a wide breach they come, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
15 Terrors are turned against me; they pursue mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away 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 And now my soul is poured out in me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
And now, in me my soul poureth itself out, Seize me do days of affliction.
17 The night pierceth through my bones [and detacheth them] from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest:
At night my bone hath been pierced in me, And mine eyelids do not lie down.
18 By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about as 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 He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
Casting me into 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 Thee, And Thou dost not answer me, I have stood, and Thou dost consider me.
21 Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me.
Thou art turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Thy hand, Thou oppressest me.
22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance.
Thou dost lift me up, On the wind Thou dost cause me to ride, And Thou meltest — Thou levellest me.
23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living.
For I have known To death Thou dost bring me back, 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.
Surely not against the heap Doth He send forth the hand, Though in its ruin they have safety.
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 whose day is hard? Grieved hath my soul for the needy.
26 For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.
When good I expected, then cometh evil, And I wait for light, and darkness cometh.
27 My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me.
My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Gone before me have days of affliction.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation.
Mourning I have gone without the sun, I have risen, in an assembly I cry.
29 I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion of ostriches.
A brother I have been to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
30 My skin is become black [and falleth] off me, and my bones are parched with heat.
My skin hath been black upon me, And my bone hath burned from heat,
31 My harp also is [turned] to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers.
And my harp doth become mourning, And my organ the sound of weeping.
