Job 30
1 But now they who are younger than I in years laugh at me, whose fathers I scorned to put as equals with the dogs of my flocks.
“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
2 Yea, what possible use can the strength of their hands be unto me, over whom old age hath passed fruitlessly?
What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
3 Who suffer for want and famine in solitude; who flee into the wilderness [where all is] darkness, ruin, and desolation;
Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
4 Who crop off mallows by the bushes, and have broom-bush roots as their bread;
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 Who are driven forth from among [men], who are shouted after as though they were thieves,
They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,
6 To dwell in the caverns of the valleys, in holes of the earth, and on naked cliffs.
so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 Among the bushes they shriek; under briers they are huddled together,
They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
8 The children of the worthless, yea, the children of the nameless, who were outcasts from the land.
A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
9 But now I am become their song, and I am become a byword unto them.
And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10 They loathe me, they keep themselves far from me, and from my face they withhold not their spittle.
They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because he hath loosened the cord of my bow, and afflicted me, they have also cast off the bridle before me.
Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12 Against my right hand rise up this swarm of worthless youths: they push away my feet, and they level against me their calamity-bringing paths.
The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
13 They destroy my footpath, they help forward my downfall, without any one to aid them.
They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
14 As [through] a broad breach they come: amidst a loud noise they rolled themselves along.
They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
15 Terrors have turned their face against me; they chase like the wind my glory: and like a cloud is my happiness passed away.
Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16 And now my soul is poured out over me; the days of affliction have seized on me;
And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
17 All night it holloweth out my bones out of my body; and my pursuers take no rest.
Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
18 Through the Almlghty's power is my garment made unknown: like the opening of my coat hath he enclosed me.
With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry aloud unto thee, but thou answerest me not: I stand up, and thou fixest thy regard against me.
I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.
21 Thou art changed into a cruel master toward me: with the strength of thy hand thou assailest me.
You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to pass away, and dissolvest in me all wise counsel.
You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.
23 For I know that thou wilt bring me back to death, and to the house of assembly for all the living.
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
24 But doth not a man stretch out his hand among ruins? or doth one not cry out therefrom [for help] when he meeteth his downfall?
Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
25 Did I not weep for him that was hard pressed by misfortune? was not my soul grieved for the needy?
Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
26 That I hoped for good, but there came evil; and I waited for light, and there came darkness!
But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
27 My bowels heave, and rest not: the days of affliction have overcome me.
I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
28 I walk about mournfully without sunlight: when I rise up, in the assembly, I cry with pain.
I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I am a brother to [howling] monsters, and a companion to ostriches.
I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin hangeth down black from me, and my bones are burnt from heat.
My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
31 And thus is changed to mourning my harp, and my pipe to the sound of weeping.
My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.
