Ἰώβ 30
1 νυνὶ δὲ κατεγέλασάν μου ἐλάχιστοι νῦν νουθετοῦσίν με ἐν μέρει ὧν ἐξουδένουν πατέρας αὐτῶν οὓς οὐχ ἡγησάμην εἶναι ἀξίους κυνῶν τῶν ἐμῶν νομάδων
But, now, they who are of fewer days than I, have poured derision upon me; whose fathers I refused—to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 καί γε ἰσχὺς χειρῶν αὐτῶν ἵνα τί μοι ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ἀπώλετο συντέλεια
Even the strength of their hands, wherefore was it mine? Upon them, vigour was lost;
3 ἐν ἐνδείᾳ καὶ λιμῷ ἄγονος οἱ φεύγοντες ἄνυδρον ἐχθὲς συνοχὴν καὶ ταλαιπωρίαν
In want and hunger, they were lean, —who used to gnaw the dry ground, a dark night of desolation!
4 οἱ περικλῶντες ἅλιμα ἐπὶ ἠχοῦντι οἵτινες ἅλιμα ἦν αὐτῶν τὰ σῖτα ἄτιμοι δὲ καὶ πεφαυλισμένοι ἐνδεεῖς παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ οἳ καὶ ῥίζας ξύλων ἐμασῶντο ὑπὸ λιμοῦ μεγάλου
Who used to pluck off the mallow by the bushes, with the root of the broom for their food;
5 ἐπανέστησάν μοι κλέπται
Out of the midst, were they driven, men shouted after them, as after a thief;
6 ὧν οἱ οἶκοι αὐτῶν ἦσαν τρῶγλαι πετρῶν
In the fissures, of the ravines had they to dwell, in holes of dust and crags;
7 ἀνὰ μέσον εὐήχων βοήσονται οἳ ὑπὸ φρύγανα ἄγρια διῃτῶντο
Among the bushes, used they to shriek, Under the bramble, were they huddled together:
8 ἀφρόνων υἱοὶ καὶ ἀτίμων ὄνομα καὶ κλέος ἐσβεσμένον ἀπὸ γῆς
Sons of the base, yea sons of the nameless, they were scourged out of the land.
9 νυνὶ δὲ κιθάρα ἐγώ εἰμι αὐτῶν καὶ ἐμὲ θρύλημα ἔχουσιν
But, now, their song, have I become, Yea I serve them for a byword;
10 ἐβδελύξαντο δέ με ἀποστάντες μακράν ἀπὸ δὲ προσώπου μου οὐκ ἐφείσαντο πτύελον
They abhor me—have put themselves far from me, and, from my face, have not withheld—spittle!
11 ἀνοίξας γὰρ φαρέτραν αὐτοῦ ἐκάκωσέν με καὶ χαλινὸν τοῦ προσώπου μου ἐξαπέστειλαν
Because, my girdle, he had loosened and had humbled me, therefore, the bridle—in my presence, cast they off;
12 ἐπὶ δεξιῶν βλαστοῦ ἐπανέστησαν πόδα αὐτῶν ἐξέτειναν καὶ ὡδοποίησαν ἐπ’ ἐμὲ τρίβους ἀπωλείας αὐτῶν
On my right hand, the young brood rose up, —My feet, they thrust aside, and cast up against me their earthworks of destruction;
13 ἐξετρίβησαν τρίβοι μου ἐξέδυσεν γάρ μου τὴν στολήν
They brake up my path, —My engulfing ruin, they helped forward, unaided;
14 βέλεσιν αὐτοῦ κατηκόντισέν με κέχρηταί μοι ὡς βούλεται ἐν ὀδύναις πέφυρμαι
As through a wide breach, came they on, with a crashing noise, they rolled themselves along.
15 ἐπιστρέφονται δέ μου αἱ ὀδύναι ᾤχετό μου ἡ ἐλπὶς ὥσπερ πνεῦμα καὶ ὥσπερ νέφος ἡ σωτηρία μου
There are turned upon me terrors, —Chased away as with a wind, is mine abundance, and, as a cloud, hath passed away my prosperity.
16 καὶ νῦν ἐπ’ ἐμὲ ἐκχυθήσεται ἡ ψυχή μου ἔχουσιν δέ με ἡμέραι ὀδυνῶν
Now, therefore, over myself, my soul poureth itself out, There seize me days of affliction:
17 νυκτὶ δέ μου τὰ ὀστᾶ συγκέκαυται τὰ δὲ νεῦρά μου διαλέλυται
Night, boreth, my bones, all over me, —and, my sinews, find no rest;
18 ἐν πολλῇ ἰσχύι ἐπελάβετό μου τῆς στολῆς ὥσπερ τὸ περιστόμιον τοῦ χιτῶνός μου περιέσχεν με
Most effectually, is my skin disfigured, —Like the collar of my tunic, it girdeth me about:
19 ἥγησαι δέ με ἴσα πηλῷ ἐν γῇ καὶ σποδῷ μου ἡ μερίς
He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 κέκραγα δὲ πρὸς σὲ καὶ οὐκ εἰσακούεις μου ἔστησαν καὶ κατενόησάν με
I cry out for help unto thee, and thou dost not answer, I stand still, and thou dost gaze at me;
21 ἐπέβης δέ μοι ἀνελεημόνως χειρὶ κραταιᾷ με ἐμαστίγωσας
Thou art turned to become a cruel one unto me, With the might of thy hand, thou assailest me;
22 ἔταξας δέ με ἐν ὀδύναις καὶ ἀπέρριψάς με ἀπὸ σωτηρίας
Thou liftest up me to the wind, thou carriest me away, and the storm maketh me faint;
23 οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι θάνατός με ἐκτρίψει οἰκία γὰρ παντὶ θνητῷ γῆ
For I know that, unto death, thou wilt bring me back, even unto the house of meeting for every one living.
24 εἰ γὰρ ὄφελον δυναίμην ἐμαυτὸν χειρώσασθαι ἢ δεηθείς γε ἑτέρου καὶ ποιήσει μοι τοῦτο
Only, against a heap of ruins, will one not thrust a hand! Surely, when one is in calamity—for that very reason, is there an outcry for help.
25 ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπὶ παντὶ ἀδυνάτῳ ἔκλαυσα ἐστέναξα δὲ ἰδὼν ἄνδρα ἐν ἀνάγκαις
Verily I wept, for him whose lot was hard, Grieved was my soul, for the needy.
26 ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπέχων ἀγαθοῖς ἰδοὺ συνήντησάν μοι μᾶλλον ἡμέραι κακῶν
Surely, for good, I looked, but there came in evil, And I waited for light, but there came in darkness;
27 ἡ κοιλία μου ἐξέζεσεν καὶ οὐ σιωπήσεται προέφθασάν με ἡμέραι πτωχείας
I boiled within me, and rested not, There confronted me—days of affliction;
28 στένων πεπόρευμαι ἄνευ φιμοῦ ἕστηκα δὲ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ κεκραγώς
In gloom, I walked along, without sun, I arose—in the convocation, I cried out for help;
29 ἀδελφὸς γέγονα σειρήνων ἑταῖρος δὲ στρουθῶν
A brother, became I to the brutes that howl, and a companion to the birds that screech:
30 τὸ δὲ δέρμα μου ἐσκότωται μεγάλως τὰ δὲ ὀστᾶ μου ἀπὸ καύματος
My skin, turned black, and peeled off me, and, my bones, burned with heat:
31 ἀπέβη δὲ εἰς πάθος μου ἡ κιθάρα ὁ δὲ ψαλμός μου εἰς κλαυθμὸν ἐμοί
Thus is attuned to mourning—my lyre, and my flute, to the noise of them who weep.
