Job 30
1 But now people much younger than me laugh at me; people whose fathers I would not put to work with my sheepdogs.
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 They are too weak to be any use to me; they're all worn-out.
Of what use to me would be even the strength of their hands, To whom old age is lost?
3 Thin through hunger and want, they try to eat the dry ground in the dark, desolate wilderness.
By want and hunger they are famished; They gnaw the dry desert, The darkness of desolate wastes.
4 There they pick desert herbs and the leaves of bushes, and eat the roots of broom trees.
They gather purslain among the bushes, And the root of the broom is their bread.
5 They were driven out of the community.
They are driven from the society of men; There is a cry after them as after a thief.
6 People shouted after them as if they were thieves. They have to live in dangerous ravines, in caves and among the rocks.
They dwell in gloomy valleys, In caves of the earth and in rocks.
7 They shout out like animals among the bushes; they huddle together in the weeds for shelter.
They bray among the bushes; Under the brambles are they stretched out.
8 They are foolish, nameless people that have been driven from the land.
An impious and low-born race, They are beaten out of the land.
9 Yet now they mock me in their songs; I have become a joke to them!
And now I am become their song; Yea, I am their by-word!
10 They despise and shun me; they don't hesitate to spit in my face.
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me; They forbear not to spit before my face.
11 God has made my bowstring loose and humbled me.
Yea, they let loose the reins, and humble me; They cast off the bridle before me.
12 The rabble rise up against me, they send me running; like a city under siege they devise ways to destroy me.
On my right hand riseth up the brood; They thrust away my feet; They cast up against me their destructive ways.
13 They cut off my way of escape; they bring about my downfall and do this without anyone's help.
They break up my path; They hasten my fall, —They who have no helper!
14 They come in through a wide breach; they rush in as the wall comes tumbling down.
They come upon me as through a wide breach; Through the ruins they rush in upon me.
15 Terrors overcome me; my honor is blown away by the wind; my salvation vanishes 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 life is ebbing away; every day despair grips me.
And now my soul poureth itself out upon me; Days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 At night my bones are in agony; the pain gnaws at me and never stops.
By night my bones are pierced; they are torn from me, And my gnawers take no rest.
18 God grabs me roughly by my clothes; he pulls me by the collar of my shirt.
Through the violence of my disease is my garment changed; It bindeth me about like the collar of my tunic.
19 He has thrown me in the mud; he has humbled me like dust and ashes.
He hath cast me into the mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.
20 God, I cry to you but you don't answer; I stand before you, but you don't even notice me.
I call upon Thee, but thou dost not hear me; I stand up before thee, but thou regardest me not.
21 You have turned cruel to me; you use your power to make me suffer.
Thou art become cruel to me; With thy strong hand dost thou lie in wait for me.
22 You pick me up and blow me along in the wind; tossing me about in the whirlwind.
Thou liftest me up, and causest me to ride upon the wind; Thou meltest me away in the storm.
23 I know you're taking me to my death, to the place where all the living go.
I know that thou wilt bring me to death, To the place of assembly for all the living.
24 Who would want to kick a man when he is down, when they cry for help in their time of trouble?
When He stretcheth out his hand, prayer availeth nothing; When He bringeth destruction, vain is the cry for help.
25 Didn't I weep for those having hard times? Didn't I grieve at what the poor suffered?
Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 But when I looked for good, only evil came, and when I waited for the light, all that came was darkness.
But when I looked for good, then evil came; When I looked for light, then came darkness.
27 Inside I am in turmoil, it never stops; I face days of despair.
My bowels boil, and have no rest; Days of anguish have come upon me.
28 I am so depressed; seeing the sun doesn't help. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
I am black, but not by the sun; I stand up, and utter my cries in the congregation.
29 I am like a brother to the jackals, a companion to owls.
I am become a brother to jackals, And a companion to ostriches.
30 My skin turns black on me; and my bones burn within me.
My skin is black, and falleth from me, And my bones burn with heat.
31 My lyre only plays sad songs, and my pipe is the voice of those who weep.
My harp also is turned to mourning, And my pipe to notes of grief.
