Job 30
1 “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.
But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock:
2 Also—the power of their hands, why [is it] to me? On them old age has perished.
The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they were thought unworthy of life itself.
3 With want and with harsh famine, They are gnawing a dry place [in] the recent night, [In] desolation and ruin,
Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness, disfigured with calamity and misery.
4 Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And their food [is] root of broom trees.
And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers was their food.
5 They are cast out from the midst (They shout against them as a thief),
Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry.
6 To dwell in a frightful place of valleys, Holes of earth and clefts.
They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves of earth, or upon the gravel.
7 They groan among shrubs, They are gathered together under nettles.
They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and counted it delightful to be under the briers.
8 Sons of folly—even sons without name, They have been struck from the land.
The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at all upon the earth.
9 And now, I have been their song, And I am to them for a byword.
Now I am turned into their song, and am become their byword.
10 They have detested me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.
They abhor me, and flee far from me, and are not afraid to spit in my face.
11 Because He loosed His cord and afflicts me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.
For he hath opened his quiver, and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle into my mouth.
12 A brood arises on the right hand, They have cast away my feet, And they raise up against me, Their paths of calamity.
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.
13 They have broken down my path, They profit by my calamity: He has no helper.
They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help.
14 They come as a wide breach, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and a gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my miseries.
15 He has turned terrors against me, It pursues my abundance as the wind, And as a thick cloud, My safety has passed away.
I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud.
16 And now, in me my soul pours itself out, Days of affliction seize me.
And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me.
17 [At] night my bone has been pierced in me, And my gnawing [pain] does not lie down.
In the night my bone is pierced with sorrows: and they that feed upon me, do not sleep.
18 By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it girds me.
With the multitude of them my garment is consumed, and they have girded me about, as with the collar of my coat.
19 Casting me into mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.
I am compared to dirt, and am likened to embers and ashes.
20 I cry to You, And You do not answer me, I have stood, and You consider me.
I cry to thee, and thou hearest me not: I stand up, and thou dost not regard me.
21 You are turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Your hand, You oppress me.
Thou art changed to be cruel toward me, and in the hardness of thy hand thou art against me.
22 You lift me up, You cause me to ride on the wind, And You melt—You level me.
Thou hast lifted me up, and set me as it were upon the wind, and thou hast mightily dashed me.
23 For I have known You bring me back [to] death, And [to] the house appointed for all living.
I know that thou wilt deliver me to death, where a house is appointed for every one that liveth.
24 Surely not against the heap Does He send forth the hand, Though they have safety in its ruin.
But yet thou stretchest not forth thy hand to their consumption: and if they shall fall down thou wilt save.
25 Did I not weep for him whose day is hard? My soul has grieved for the needy.
I wept heretofore for him that was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.
26 When I expected good, then comes evil, And I wait for light, and darkness comes.
I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I waited for light, and darkness broke out.
27 My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Days of affliction have gone before me.
My inner parts have boiled without any rest, the days of affliction have prevented me.
28 I have gone mourning without the sun, I have risen, I cry in an assembly.
I went mourning without indignation; I rose up, and cried in the crowd.
29 I have been a brother to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
I was the brother of dragons, and companion of ostriches.
30 My skin has been black on me, And my bone has burned from heat,
My skin is become black upon me, and my bones are dried up with heat.
31 And my harp becomes mourning, And my pipe the sound of weeping.”
My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep.
