Job 30
1 But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock:
But now they that are younger than I hold me in derision, Whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they were thought unworthy of life itself.
Of what use to me would be even the strength of their hands, To whom old age is lost?
3 Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness, disfigured with calamity and misery.
By want and hunger they are famished; They gnaw the dry desert, The darkness of desolate wastes.
4 And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers was their food.
They gather purslain among the bushes, And the root of the broom is their bread.
5 Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry.
They are driven from the society of men; There is a cry after them as after a thief.
6 They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves of earth, or upon the gravel.
They dwell in gloomy valleys, In caves of the earth and in rocks.
7 They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and counted it delightful to be under the briers.
They bray among the bushes; Under the brambles are they stretched out.
8 The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at all upon the earth.
An impious and low-born race, They are beaten out of the land.
9 Now I am turned into their song, and am become their byword.
And now I am become their song; Yea, I am their by-word!
10 They abhor me, and flee far from me, and are not afraid to spit in my face.
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me; They forbear not to spit before my face.
11 For he hath opened his quiver, and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle into my mouth.
Yea, they let loose the reins, and humble me; They cast off the bridle before me.
12 At the right hand of my rising, my calamities forthwith arose: they have overthrown my feet, and have overwhelmed me with their paths as with waves.
On my right hand riseth up the brood; They thrust away my feet; They cast up against me their destructive ways.
13 They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help.
They break up my path; They hasten my fall, —They who have no helper!
14 They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and a gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my miseries.
They come upon me as through a wide breach; Through the ruins they rush in upon me.
15 I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud.
Terrors are turned against me; They pursue my prosperity like the wind, And my welfare passeth away like a cloud.
16 And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me.
And now my soul poureth itself out upon me; Days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 In the night my bone is pierced with sorrows: and they that feed upon me, do not sleep.
By night my bones are pierced; they are torn from me, And my gnawers take no rest.
18 With the multitude of them my garment is consumed, and they have girded me about, as with the collar of my coat.
Through the violence of my disease is my garment changed; It bindeth me about like the collar of my tunic.
19 I am compared to dirt, and am likened to embers and ashes.
He hath cast me into the mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to thee, and thou hearest me not: I stand up, and thou dost not regard me.
I call upon Thee, but thou dost not hear me; I stand up before thee, but thou regardest me not.
21 Thou art changed to be cruel toward me, and in the hardness of thy hand thou art against me.
Thou art become cruel to me; With thy strong hand dost thou lie in wait for me.
22 Thou hast lifted me up, and set me as it were upon the wind, and thou hast mightily dashed me.
Thou liftest me up, and causest me to ride upon the wind; Thou meltest me away in the storm.
23 I know that thou wilt deliver me to death, where a house is appointed for every one that liveth.
I know that thou wilt bring me to death, To the place of assembly for all the living.
24 But yet thou stretchest not forth thy hand to their consumption: and if they shall fall down thou wilt save.
When He stretcheth out his hand, prayer availeth nothing; When He bringeth destruction, vain is the cry for help.
25 I wept heretofore for him that was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.
Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I waited for light, and darkness broke out.
But when I looked for good, then evil came; When I looked for light, then came darkness.
27 My inner parts have boiled without any rest, the days of affliction have prevented me.
My bowels boil, and have no rest; Days of anguish have come upon me.
28 I went mourning without indignation; I rose up, and cried in the crowd.
I am black, but not by the sun; I stand up, and utter my cries in the congregation.
29 I was the brother of dragons, and companion of ostriches.
I am become a brother to jackals, And a companion to ostriches.
30 My skin is become black upon me, and my bones are dried up with heat.
My skin is black, and falleth from me, And my bones burn with heat.
31 My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep.
My harp also is turned to mourning, And my pipe to notes of grief.
