איוב 30

1 ועתה שחקו עלי צעירים ממני לימים אשר מאסתי אבותם לשית עם כלבי צאני׃

But now those who are younger than I make sport of me; those whose fathers I would not have put with the dogs of my flocks.

2 גם כח ידיהם למה לי עלימו אבד כלח׃

Of what use is the strength of their hands to me? all force is gone from them.

3 בחסר ובכפן גלמוד הערקים ציה אמש שואה ומשאה׃

They are wasted for need of food, biting the dry earth; their only hope of life is in the waste land.

4 הקטפים מלוח עלי שיח ושרש רתמים לחמם׃

They are pulling off the salt leaves from the brushwood, and making a meal of roots.

5 מן גו יגרשו יריעו עלימו כגנב׃

They are sent out from among their townsmen, men are crying after them as thieves

6 בערוץ נחלים לשכן חרי עפר וכפים׃

They have to get a resting-place in the hollows of the valleys, in holes of the earth and rocks.

7 בין שיחים ינהקו תחת חרול יספחו׃

They make noises like asses among the brushwood; they get together under the thorns.

8 בני נבל גם בני בלי שם נכאו מן הארץ׃

They are sons of shame, and of men without a name, who have been forced out of the land.

9 ועתה נגינתם הייתי ואהי להם למלה׃

And now I have become their song, and I am a word of shame to them.

10 תעבוני רחקו מני ומפני לא חשכו רק׃

I am disgusting to them; they keep away from me, and put marks of shame on me.

11 כי יתרו פתח ויענני ורסן מפני שלחו׃

For he has made loose the cord of my bow, and put me to shame; he has sent down my flag to the earth before me.

12 על ימין פרחח יקומו רגלי שלחו ויסלו עלי ארחות אידם׃

The lines of his men of war put themselves in order, and make high their ways of destruction against me:

13 נתסו נתיבתי להותי יעילו לא עזר למו׃

They have made waste my roads, with a view to my destruction; his bowmen come round about me;

14 כפרץ רחב יאתיו תחת שאה התגלגלו׃

As through a wide broken place in the wall they come on, I am overturned by the shock of their attack.

15 ההפך עלי בלהות תרדף כרוח נדבתי וכעב עברה ישעתי׃

Fears have come on me; my hope is gone like the wind, and my well-being like a cloud.

16 ועתה עלי תשתפך נפשי יאחזוני ימי עני׃

But now my soul is turned to water in me, days of trouble overtake me:

17 לילה עצמי נקר מעלי וערקי לא ישכבון׃

The flesh is gone from my bones, and they give me no rest; there is no end to my pains.

18 ברב כח יתחפש לבושי כפי כתנתי יאזרני׃

With great force he takes a grip of my clothing, pulling me by the neck of my coat.

19 הרני לחמר ואתמשל כעפר ואפר׃

Truly God has made me low, even to the earth, and I have become like dust.

20 אשוע אליך ולא תענני עמדתי ותתבנן בי׃

You give no answer to my cry, and take no note of my prayer.

21 תהפך לאכזר לי בעצם ידך תשטמני׃

You have become cruel to me; the strength of your hand is hard on me.

22 תשאני אל רוח תרכיבני ותמגגני תשוה׃

Lifting me up, you make me go on the wings of the wind; I am broken up by the storm.

23 כי ידעתי מות תשיבני ובית מועד לכל חי׃

For I am certain that you will send me back to death, and to the meeting-place ordered for all living.

24 אך לא בעי ישלח יד אם בפידו להן שוע׃

Has not my hand been stretched out in help to the poor? have I not been a saviour to him in his trouble?

25 אם לא בכיתי לקשה יום עגמה נפשי לאביון׃

Have I not been weeping for the crushed? and was not my soul sad for him who was in need?

26 כי טוב קויתי ויבא רע ואיחלה לאור ויבא אפל׃

For I was looking for good, and evil came; I was waiting for light, and it became dark.

27 מעי רתחו ולא דמו קדמני ימי עני׃

My feelings are strongly moved, and give me no rest; days of trouble have overtaken me.

28 קדר הלכתי בלא חמה קמתי בקהל אשוע׃

I go about in dark clothing, uncomforted; I get up in the public place, crying out for help.

29 אח הייתי לתנים ורע לבנות יענה׃

I have become a brother to the jackals, and go about in the company of ostriches.

30 עורי שחר מעלי ועצמי חרה מני חרב׃

My skin is black and dropping off me; and my bones are burning with the heat of my disease.

31 ויהי לאבל כנרי ועגבי לקול בכים׃

And my music has been turned to sorrow, and the sound of my pipe into the noise of weeping.