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.
“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, what possible use can the strength of their hands be unto me, over whom old age hath passed fruitlessly?
Also—the power of their hands, why [is it] to me? On them old age has perished.
3 Who suffer for want and famine in solitude; who flee into the wilderness [where all is] darkness, ruin, and desolation;
With want and with harsh famine, They are gnawing a dry place [in] the recent night, [In] desolation and ruin,
4 Who crop off mallows by the bushes, and have broom-bush roots as their bread;
Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And their food [is] root of broom trees.
5 Who are driven forth from among [men], who are shouted after as though they were thieves,
They are cast out from the midst (They shout against them as a thief),
6 To dwell in the caverns of the valleys, in holes of the earth, and on naked cliffs.
To dwell in a frightful place of valleys, Holes of earth and clefts.
7 Among the bushes they shriek; under briers they are huddled together,
They groan among shrubs, They are gathered together under nettles.
8 The children of the worthless, yea, the children of the nameless, who were outcasts from the land.
Sons of folly—even sons without name, They have been struck from the land.
9 But now I am become their song, and I am become a byword unto them.
And now, I have been their song, And I am to them for a byword.
10 They loathe me, they keep themselves far from me, and from my face they withhold not their spittle.
They have detested me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.
11 Because he hath loosened the cord of my bow, and afflicted me, they have also cast off the bridle before me.
Because He loosed His cord and afflicts me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.
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.
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 destroy my footpath, they help forward my downfall, without any one to aid them.
They have broken down my path, They profit by my calamity: He has no helper.
14 As [through] a broad breach they come: amidst a loud noise they rolled themselves along.
They come as a wide breach, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
15 Terrors have turned their face against me; they chase like the wind my glory: and like a cloud is my happiness passed away.
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 over me; the days of affliction have seized on me;
And now, in me my soul pours itself out, Days of affliction seize me.
17 All night it holloweth out my bones out of my body; and my pursuers take no rest.
[At] night my bone has been pierced in me, And my gnawing [pain] does not lie down.
18 Through the Almlghty's power is my garment made unknown: like the opening of my coat hath he enclosed me.
By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it girds me.
19 He hath 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 aloud unto thee, but thou answerest me not: I stand up, and thou fixest thy regard against me.
I cry to You, And You do not answer me, I have stood, and You consider me.
21 Thou art changed into a cruel master toward me: with the strength of thy hand thou assailest me.
You are turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Your hand, You oppress me.
22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to pass away, and dissolvest in me all wise counsel.
You lift me up, You cause me to ride on the wind, And You melt—You level me.
23 For I know that thou wilt bring me back to death, and to the house of assembly for all the living.
For I have known You bring me back [to] death, And [to] the house appointed for all 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?
Surely not against the heap Does He send forth the hand, Though they have safety in its ruin.
25 Did I not weep for him that was hard pressed by misfortune? was not my soul grieved for the needy?
Did I not weep for him whose day is hard? My soul has grieved for the needy.
26 That I hoped for good, but there came evil; and I waited for light, and there came darkness!
When I expected good, then comes evil, And I wait for light, and darkness comes.
27 My bowels heave, and rest not: the days of affliction have overcome me.
My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Days of affliction have gone before me.
28 I walk about mournfully without sunlight: when I rise up, in the assembly, I cry with pain.
I have gone mourning without the sun, I have risen, I cry in an assembly.
29 I am a brother to [howling] monsters, and a companion to ostriches.
I have been a brother to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
30 My skin hangeth down black from me, and my bones are burnt from heat.
My skin has been black on me, And my bone has burned from heat,
31 And thus is changed to mourning my harp, and my pipe to the sound of weeping.
And my harp becomes mourning, And my pipe the sound of weeping.”
