Job 30
1 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.
“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
2 Indeed, the strength of their fathers' hands, how could it have helped me— men in whom the strength of their mature age had perished?
What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
3 They were thin from poverty and hunger; they gnawed at the dry ground in the darkness of wilderness and desolation.
Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
4 They plucked saltwort and bushes' leaves; the roots of the broom tree were their food.
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 They were driven out from among people who shouted after them as one would shout after a thief.
They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,
6 So they had to live in river valleys, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 Among the bushes they brayed like donkeys and they gathered together under the nettles.
They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
8 They were the sons of fools, indeed, sons of nameless people! They were driven out of the land with whips.
A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
9 But now I have become the subject of their taunting song; I have become a byword for them.
And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10 They abhor me and stand far off from me; they do not refrain from spitting in my face.
They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 For God has unstrung the string to my bow and afflicted me, and those who taunt me cast off restraint before my face.
Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12 Upon my right hand rise the rabble; they drive me away and pile up against me their siege mounds.
The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
13 They destroy my path; they push forward disaster for me, men who have no one to hold them back.
They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
14 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.
They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
15 Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is driven away as if by the wind; my prosperity passes away as a cloud.
Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16 Now my life is pouring out from within me; many days of suffering have laid hold on me.
And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
17 In the night my bones in me are pierced; the pains that gnaw at me take no rest.
Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
18 God's great force has seized my clothing; it wraps around me like the collar of my tunic.
With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
19 He has thrown me into the mud; I have become like dust and ashes.
He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you, God, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you merely look at me.
I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.
21 You have changed and become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you persecute me.
You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
22 You lift me up to the wind and cause it to drive me along; you throw me back and forth in a storm.
You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.
23 For I know that you will bring me to death, to the house appointed for all the living.
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
24 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?
Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
25 Did not I weep for him who was in trouble? Did I not grieve for the needy man?
Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
26 When I hoped for good, then evil came; when I waited for light, darkness came instead.
But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
27 My heart is troubled and does not rest; days of affliction have come on me.
I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
28 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.
I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I am a brother to jackals, a companion of ostriches.
I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin is black and falls away from me; my bones are burned with heat.
My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
31 Therefore my harp is tuned for songs of mourning, my flute for the singing of those who wail.
My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.
