< Job 30 >

1 But now they that are younger than I hold me in derision, Whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
But now [they that are] younger than I, have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 Of what use to me would be even the strength of their hands, To whom old age is lost?
Yes, to what [might] the strength of their hands [profit] me, in whom old age had perished?
3 By want and hunger they are famished; They gnaw the dry desert, The darkness of desolate wastes.
For want and famine [they were] solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
4 They gather purslain among the bushes, And the root of the broom is their bread.
Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots [for] their food.
5 They are driven from the society of men; There is a cry after them as after a thief.
They were driven forth from among [men], (they cried after them, as [after] a thief; )
6 They dwell in gloomy valleys, In caves of the earth and in rocks.
To dwell in the clefts of the valleys, [in] caves of the earth, and [in] the rocks.
7 They bray among the bushes; Under the brambles are they stretched out.
Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were collected.
8 An impious and low-born race, They are beaten out of the land.
[They were] children of fools, yes, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.
9 And now I am become their song; Yea, I am their by-word!
And now I am their song, yes, I am their by-word.
10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me; They forbear not to spit before my face.
They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
11 Yea, they let loose the reins, and humble me; They cast off the bridle before me.
Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.
12 On my right hand riseth up the brood; They thrust away my feet; They cast up against me their destructive ways.
Upon [my] right [hand] rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
13 They break up my path; They hasten my fall, —They who have no helper!
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
14 They come upon me as through a wide breach; Through the ruins they rush in upon me.
They came [upon me] as a wide breaking in [of waters]: in the desolation they rolled themselves [upon me].
15 Terrors are turned against me; They pursue my prosperity like the wind, And my welfare passeth away like a cloud.
Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
16 And now my soul poureth itself out upon me; Days of affliction have taken hold of me.
And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 By night my bones are pierced; they are torn from me, And my gnawers take no rest.
My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.
18 Through the violence of my disease is my garment changed; It bindeth me about like the collar of my tunic.
By the great force [of my disease] is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He hath cast me into the mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.
He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I call upon Thee, but thou dost not hear me; I stand up before thee, but thou regardest me not.
I cry to thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me [not].
21 Thou art become cruel to me; With thy strong hand dost thou lie in wait for me.
Thou hast become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.
22 Thou liftest me up, and causest me to ride upon the wind; Thou meltest me away in the storm.
Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride [upon it], and dissolvest my substance.
23 I know that thou wilt bring me to death, To the place of assembly for all the living.
For I know [that] thou wilt bring me [to] death, and [to] the house appointed for all living.
24 When He stretcheth out his hand, prayer availeth nothing; When He bringeth destruction, vain is the cry for help.
Yet he will not stretch out [his] hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was [not] my soul grieved for the poor?
26 But when I looked for good, then evil came; When I looked for light, then came darkness.
When I looked for good, then evil came: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My bowels boil, and have no rest; Days of anguish have come upon me.
My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction came upon me.
28 I am black, but not by the sun; I stand up, and utter my cries in the congregation.
I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, [and] I cried in the congregation.
29 I am become a brother to jackals, And a companion to ostriches.
I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
30 My skin is black, and falleth from me, And my bones burn with heat.
My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31 My harp also is turned to mourning, And my pipe to notes of grief.
My harp also is [turned] to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

< Job 30 >