Job 30
1 “But now men who are younger than I am make fun of me— men whose fathers I greatly despised, with the result that I would not even have allowed them to help my dogs guard my sheep.
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 They were men who were old and (weak/worn out); so (what could I gain from them working for me?/I would have gained nothing from them working for me.) [RHQ]
Yea, whereto [should] the strength of their hands [profit] me, [men] in whom vigour hath perished?
3 They were very poor and hungry, with the result that they chewed on roots [at night] in dry and desolate places.
Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert:
4 They pulled up plants in the desert [and ate them] and warmed themselves by [burning] the roots of broom trees.
They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food.
5 Everyone shouted at them as though they were thieves and expelled them [from their areas].
They are driven forth from among [men] — they cry after them as after a thief —
6 They were forced to live in caves in the hills, in holes in the ground, and in the sides of cliffs.
To dwell in gloomy gorges, in caves of the earth and the rocks:
7 In the bushes they howled [like animals because they were hungry], and they huddled together under thornbushes.
They bray among the bushes; under the brambles they are gathered together:
8 They were people without good sense, whose names no one knows; they have been expelled from the land [where they were born].
Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land.
9 “And now their [children] sing songs to make fun of me. They tell jokes about me.
And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword.
10 They are disgusted with me, and they [usually] stay away from me, [but when they see me, ] they are happy to spit in my face.
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, yea, they spare not to spit in my face.
11 Because [it is as though] [MET] God has cut my bowstring, [he has caused me to be unable to defend myself, ] and he has humbled me, and my enemies have done to me whatever they wanted.
For he hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me.
12 (Gangs/Groups of violent youths) attack me and force me to run away; they prepare to destroy me.
At [my] right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways;
13 They prevent me from escaping, and they [do] not [need] anyone to help them (OR, there is no one to help me).
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them;
14 [It is as though I am a city wall and] [SIM] they have broken through the wall, and they have come crashing down on me.
They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward.
15 I am very terrified; My dignity/honor has been taken away as though [SIM] [it has been] blown away by the wind, and my prosperity has disappeared like [SIM] clouds disappear.
Terrors are turned against me; they pursue mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away like a cloud.
16 “And now I [SYN] am about to die [IDM]; I suffer every day.
And now my soul is poured out in me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 My bones ache during the night, and the pain that torments me never stops.
The night pierceth through my bones [and detacheth them] from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest:
18 [It is as though God] seizes my clothes and chokes me with the collar of my coat.
By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He has thrown me into the mud; I am [not worth anything more than] dust and ashes.
He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 “I cry out to God, but he does not answer/help me; I stand up [and pray], but he does not pay any attention.
I cry unto thee, and thou answerest me not; I stand up, and thou lookest at me.
21 He acts very cruelly toward me; with all of his power [MTY] he causes me to suffer.
Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me.
22 He [allows] the wind to lift me up and blow me away, and he tosses me up and down in a violent storm.
Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance.
23 I know that he will cause me to die, which is what happens to everyone [MTY] who is alive.
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living.
24 “When people experience disasters, and they sit on a pile of ruins and cry out for help, others surely [RHQ] reach out their hand to help them.
Indeed, no prayer [availeth] when he stretcheth out [his] hand: though they cry when he destroyeth.
25 [That is what I did previously]. I wept for people who were experiencing troubles, and I felt sorry for poor/needy people.
Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?
26 But when I expected good things [to happen to me], evil things happened; when I waited for light/happiness, all I experienced was darkness/unhappiness [MET].
For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.
27 I am very distressed [IDM], all the time; I suffer every day.
My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me.
28 I go about very discouraged; I stand up and plead for people to help me.
I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation.
29 My wailing sounds as sad as [MET] the cries of jackals/foxes and ostriches.
I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin has become dark/black and is peeling off, and I have a fever [which causes my body to feel like it is] burning.
My skin is become black [and falleth] off me, and my bones are parched with heat.
31 Previously, I played joyful music on my harp and with my flute, but now I play only the sad music of those who mourn.”
My harp also is [turned] to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers.
