Job 30
1 [Nunc autem derident me juniores tempore, quorum non dignabar patres ponere cum canibus gregis mei:
“But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I considered unworthy to put with my sheep dogs.
2 quorum virtus manuum mihi erat pro nihilo, et vita ipsa putabantur indigni:
Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished?
3 egestate et fame steriles, qui rodebant in solitudine, squallentes calamitate et miseria.
They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.
4 Et mandebant herbas, et arborum cortices, et radix juniperorum erat cibus eorum:
They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom tree are their food.
5 qui de convallibus ista rapientes, cum singula reperissent, ad ea cum clamore currebant.
They are driven out from among men. They cry after them as after a thief,
6 In desertis habitabant torrentium, et in cavernis terræ, vel super glaream:
so that they live in frightful valleys, and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 qui inter hujuscemodi lætabantur, et esse sub sentibus delicias computabant:
They bray among the bushes. They are gathered together under the nettles.
8 filii stultorum et ignobilium, et in terra penitus non parentes.
They are children of fools, yes, children of wicked men. They were flogged out of the land.
9 Nunc in eorum canticum versus sum, et factus sum eis in proverbium.
“Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them.
10 Abominantur me, et longe fugiunt a me, et faciem meam conspuere non verentur.
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, and don’t hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Pharetram enim suam aperuit, et afflixit me, et frenum posuit in os meum.
For he has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint before me.
12 Ad dexteram orientis calamitates meæ illico surrexerunt: pedes meos subverterunt, et oppresserunt quasi fluctibus semitis suis.
On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet. They cast their ways of destruction up against me.
13 Dissipaverunt itinera mea; insidiati sunt mihi, et prævaluerunt: et non fuit qui ferret auxilium.
They mar my path. They promote my destruction without anyone’s help.
14 Quasi rupto muro, et aperta janua, irruerunt super me, et ad meas miserias devoluti sunt.
As through a wide breach they come. They roll themselves in amid the ruin.
15 Redactus sum in nihilum: abstulisti quasi ventus desiderium meum, et velut nubes pertransiit salus mea.
Terrors have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.
16 Nunc autem in memetipso marcescit anima mea, et possident me dies afflictionis.
“Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 Nocte os meum perforatur doloribus, et qui me comedunt, non dormiunt.
In the night season my bones are pierced in me, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
18 In multitudine eorum consumitur vestimentum meum, et quasi capito tunicæ succinxerunt me.
My garment is disfigured by great force. It binds me about as the collar of my tunic.
19 Comparatus sum luto, et assimilatus sum favillæ et cineri.
He has cast me into the mire. I have become like dust and ashes.
20 Clamo ad te, et non exaudis me: sto, et non respicis me.
I cry to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.
21 Mutatus es mihi in crudelem, et in duritia manus tuæ adversaris mihi.
You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of your hand you persecute me.
22 Elevasti me, et quasi super ventum ponens; elisisti me valide.
You lift me up to the wind, and drive me with it. You dissolve me in the storm.
23 Scio quia morti trades me, ubi constituta est domus omni viventi.
For I know that you will bring me to death, to the house appointed for all living.
24 Verumtamen non ad consumptionem eorum emittis manum tuam: et si corruerint, ipse salvabis.
“However doesn’t one stretch out a hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
25 Flebam quondam super eo qui afflictus erat, et compatiebatur anima mea pauperi.
Didn’t I weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn’t my soul grieved for the needy?
26 Expectabam bona, et venerunt mihi mala: præstolabar lucem, et eruperunt tenebræ.
When I looked for good, then evil came. When I waited for light, darkness came.
27 Interiora mea efferbuerunt absque ulla requie: prævenerunt me dies afflictionis.
My heart is troubled, and doesn’t rest. Days of affliction have come on me.
28 Mœrens incedebam sine furore; consurgens, in turba clamabam.
I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
29 Frater fui draconum, et socius struthionum.
I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.
30 Cutis mea denigrata est super me, et ossa mea aruerunt præ caumate.
My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.
31 Versa est in luctum cithara mea, et organum meum in vocem flentium.]
Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.
