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 they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I disdained to 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.
Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me? men in whom ripe age is perished.
3 With want and with harsh famine, They are gnawing a dry place [in] the recent night, [In] desolation and ruin,
They are gaunt with want and famine; they gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.
4 Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And their food [is] root of broom trees.
They pluck salt-wort with wormwood; and the roots of the broom are their food.
5 They are cast out from the midst (They shout against them as a thief),
They are driven forth from the midst of men; they cry after them as after a thief.
6 To dwell in a frightful place of valleys, Holes of earth and clefts.
In the clefts of the valleys must they dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 They groan among shrubs, They are gathered together under nettles.
Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they are gathered together.
8 Sons of folly—even sons without name, They have been struck from the land.
They are children of churls, yea, children of ignoble men; they were scourged out of the land.
9 And now, I have been their song, And I am to them for a byword.
And now I am become their song, yea, I am a byword unto them.
10 They have detested me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.
They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not 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 loosed my cord, and afflicted me, and they have cast off the bridle before me.
12 A brood arises on the right hand, They have cast away my feet, And they raise up against me, Their paths of calamity.
Upon my right hand rise the brood; they entangle my feet, and they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
13 They have broken down my path, They profit by my calamity: He has no helper.
They break up my path, they further my calamity, even men that have no helper.
14 They come as a wide breach, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
As through a wide breach they come; in the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.
15 He has turned terrors against me, It pursues my abundance as the wind, And as a thick cloud, My safety has passed away.
Terrors are turned upon me, they chase mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away as a cloud.
16 And now, in me my soul pours itself out, Days of affliction seize me.
And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 [At] night my bone has been pierced in me, And my gnawing [pain] does not lie down.
In the night my bones are pierced, and fall from me, and my sinews take no rest.
18 By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it girds me.
By the great force of my disease is my garment disfigured; it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
19 Casting me into mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.
He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to You, And You do not answer me, I have stood, and You consider me.
I cry unto Thee, and Thou dost not answer me; I stand up, and Thou lookest at me.
21 You are turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Your hand, You oppress me.
Thou art turned to be cruel to me; with the might of Thy hand Thou hatest me.
22 You lift me up, You cause me to ride on the wind, And You melt—You level me.
Thou liftest me up to the wind, Thou causest me to ride upon it; and Thou dissolvest my substance.
23 For I have known You bring me back [to] death, And [to] the house appointed for all living.
For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
24 Surely not against the heap Does He send forth the hand, Though they have safety in its ruin.
Surely none shall put forth his hand to a ruinous heap, neither because of these things shall help come in one's calamity,
25 Did I not weep for him whose day is hard? My soul has grieved for the needy.
If I have not wept for him that was in trouble, and if my soul grieved not for the needy.
26 When I expected good, then comes evil, And I wait for light, and darkness comes.
Yet, when I looked for good, there came evil; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Days of affliction have gone before me.
Mine inwards boil, and rest not; days of affliction are come upon me.
28 I have gone mourning without the sun, I have risen, I cry in an assembly.
I go mourning without the sun; I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
29 I have been a brother to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.
30 My skin has been black on me, And my bone has burned from heat,
My skin is black, and falleth from me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31 And my harp becomes mourning, And my pipe the sound of weeping.”
Therefore is my harp turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of them that weep.
