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 those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I considered unworthy to put with my sheep dogs.
2 Also—the power of their hands, why [is it] to me? On them old age has perished.
Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has 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 from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.
4 Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And their food [is] root of broom trees.
They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom tree are their food.
5 They are cast out from the midst (They shout against them as a thief),
They are driven out from amongst men. They cry after them as after a thief,
6 To dwell in a frightful place of valleys, Holes of earth and clefts.
so that they live in frightful valleys, and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 They groan among shrubs, They are gathered together under nettles.
They bray amongst the bushes. They are gathered together under the nettles.
8 Sons of folly—even sons without name, They have been struck from the land.
They are children of fools, yes, children of wicked men. They were flogged out of the land.
9 And now, I have been their song, And I am to them for a byword.
“Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to 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 stand aloof from me, and don’t hesitate 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 has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint 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.
On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet. They cast their ways of destruction up against me.
13 They have broken down my path, They profit by my calamity: He has no helper.
They mar my path. They promote my destruction without anyone’s help.
14 They come as a wide breach, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
As through a wide breach they come. They roll themselves in amid the ruin.
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 have turned on me. They chase my honour as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.
16 And now, in me my soul pours itself out, Days of affliction seize me.
“Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 [At] night my bone has been pierced in me, And my gnawing [pain] does not lie down.
In the night season my bones are pierced in me, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
18 By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it girds me.
My garment is disfigured by great force. It binds me about as the collar of my tunic.
19 Casting me into mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.
He has cast me into the mire. 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, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.
21 You are turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Your hand, You oppress me.
You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might 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 drive me with it. You dissolve me in the 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 living.
24 Surely not against the heap Does He send forth the hand, Though they have safety in its ruin.
“However doesn’t one stretch out a hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
25 Did I not weep for him whose day is hard? My soul has grieved for the needy.
Didn’t I weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn’t my soul grieved for the needy?
26 When I expected good, then comes evil, And I wait for light, and darkness comes.
When I looked for good, then evil came. When I waited for light, darkness came.
27 My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Days of affliction have gone before me.
My heart is troubled, and doesn’t 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 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 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 grows black and peels from me. My bones are burnt with heat.
31 And my harp becomes mourning, And my pipe the sound of weeping.”
Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.
