Job 30
1 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.
“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 Yes, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
Also—the power of their hands, why [is it] to me? On them old age has perished.
3 For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
With want and with harsh famine, They are gnawing a dry place [in] the recent night, [In] desolation and ruin,
4 Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And their food [is] root of broom trees.
5 They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief; )
They are cast out from the midst (They shout against them as a thief),
6 To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
To dwell in a frightful place of valleys, Holes of earth and clefts.
7 Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
They groan among shrubs, They are gathered together under nettles.
8 They were children of fools, yes, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.
Sons of folly—even sons without name, They have been struck from the land.
9 And now am I their song, yes, I am their byword.
And now, I have been their song, And I am to them for a byword.
10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
They have detested me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.
11 Because he has loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.
Because He loosed His cord and afflicts me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.
12 On my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
A brood arises on the right hand, They have cast away my feet, And they raise up against me, Their paths of calamity.
13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
They have broken down my path, They profit by my calamity: He has no helper.
14 They came on me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves on me.
They come as a wide breach, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
15 Terrors are turned on me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passes away as a cloud.
He has turned terrors against me, It pursues my abundance as the wind, And as a thick cloud, My safety has passed away.
16 And now my soul is poured out on me; the days of affliction have taken hold on me.
And now, in me my soul pours itself out, Days of affliction seize me.
17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.
[At] night my bone has been pierced in me, And my gnawing [pain] does not lie down.
18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it binds me about as the collar of my coat.
By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it girds me.
19 He has cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
Casting me into mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you, and you do not hear me: I stand up, and you regard me not.
I cry to You, And You do not answer me, I have stood, and You consider me.
21 You are become cruel to me: with your strong hand you oppose yourself against me.
You are turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Your hand, You oppress me.
22 You lift me up to the wind; you cause me to ride on it, and dissolve my substance.
You lift me up, You cause me to ride on the wind, And You melt—You level me.
23 For I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
For I have known You bring me back [to] death, And [to] the house appointed for all living.
24 However, he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
Surely not against the heap Does He send forth the hand, Though they have safety in its ruin.
25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
Did I not weep for him whose day is hard? My soul has grieved for the needy.
26 When I looked for good, then evil came to me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
When I expected good, then comes evil, And I wait for light, and darkness comes.
27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Days of affliction have gone before me.
28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
I have gone mourning without the sun, I have risen, I cry in an assembly.
29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
I have been a brother to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
30 My skin is black on me, and my bones are burned with heat.
My skin has been black on me, And my bone has burned from heat,
31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
And my harp becomes mourning, And my pipe the sound of weeping.”
