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.
Now those who are younger than I have nothing but mockery for me— these young men whose fathers I would have refused to allow to work beside the dogs of my flock.
2 Also—the power of their hands, why [is it] to me? On them old age has perished.
Indeed, the strength of their fathers' hands, how could it have helped me— men in whom the strength of their mature age had perished?
3 With want and with harsh famine, They are gnawing a dry place [in] the recent night, [In] desolation and ruin,
They were thin from poverty and hunger; they gnawed at the dry ground in the darkness of wilderness and desolation.
4 Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And their food [is] root of broom trees.
They plucked saltwort and bushes' leaves; the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 They are cast out from the midst (They shout against them as a thief),
They were driven out from among people who shouted after them as one would shout after a thief.
6 To dwell in a frightful place of valleys, Holes of earth and clefts.
So they had to live in river valleys, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 They groan among shrubs, They are gathered together under nettles.
Among the bushes they brayed like donkeys and they gathered together under the nettles.
8 Sons of folly—even sons without name, They have been struck from the land.
They were the sons of fools, indeed, sons of nameless people! They were driven out of the land with whips.
9 And now, I have been their song, And I am to them for a byword.
But now I have become the subject of their taunting song; I have become a byword for them.
10 They have detested me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.
They abhor me and stand far off from me; they do not refrain from spitting in my face.
11 Because He loosed His cord and afflicts me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.
For God has unstrung the string to my bow and afflicted me, and those who taunt me cast off restraint before my face.
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 rabble; they drive me away and pile up against me their siege mounds.
13 They have broken down my path, They profit by my calamity: He has no helper.
They destroy my path; they push forward disaster for me, men who have no one to hold them back.
14 They come as a wide breach, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
They come against me like an army through a wide hole in a city wall; in the midst of the destruction they roll themselves in on 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; my honor is driven away as if by the wind; my prosperity passes away as a cloud.
16 And now, in me my soul pours itself out, Days of affliction seize me.
Now my life is pouring out from within me; many days of suffering have laid hold on me.
17 [At] night my bone has been pierced in me, And my gnawing [pain] does not lie down.
In the night my bones in me are pierced; the pains that gnaw at me take no rest.
18 By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it girds me.
God's great force has seized my clothing; it wraps around me like the collar of my tunic.
19 Casting me into mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.
He has thrown me into the mud; I have 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 to you, God, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you merely look at me.
21 You are turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Your hand, You oppress me.
You have changed and become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you persecute me.
22 You lift me up, You cause me to ride on the wind, And You melt—You level me.
You lift me up to the wind and cause it to drive me along; you throw me back and forth in a storm.
23 For I have known You bring me back [to] death, And [to] the house appointed for all living.
For I know that you will bring me to death, to the house appointed for all the living.
24 Surely not against the heap Does He send forth the hand, Though they have safety in its ruin.
However, does no one reach out with his hand to beg for help when he falls? Does no one in trouble call out for help?
25 Did I not weep for him whose day is hard? My soul has grieved for the needy.
Did not I weep for him who was in trouble? Did I not grieve for the needy man?
26 When I expected good, then comes evil, And I wait for light, and darkness comes.
When I hoped for good, then evil came; when I waited for light, darkness came instead.
27 My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Days of affliction have gone before me.
My heart is troubled and does not rest; days of affliction have come on me.
28 I have gone mourning without the sun, I have risen, I cry in an assembly.
I have gone about like one who was living in the dark, but not because of 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 a brother to jackals, a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin has been black on me, And my bone has burned from heat,
My skin is black and falls away from me; my bones are burned with heat.
31 And my harp becomes mourning, And my pipe the sound of weeping.”
Therefore my harp is tuned for songs of mourning, my flute for the singing of those who wail.
