Job 30
1 Nunc autem derident me iuniores tempore, quorum non dignabar patres ponere cum canibus gregis mei:
“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
2 Quorum virtus manuum mihi erat pro nihilo, et vita ipsa putabantur indigni.
What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
3 Egestate et fame steriles, qui rodebant in solitudine, squallentes calamitate, et miseria.
Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
4 Et mandebant herbas, et arborum cortices, et radix iuniperorum erat cibus eorum.
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 Qui de convallibus ista rapientes, cum singula reperissent, ad ea cum clamore currebant.
They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,
6 In desertis habitabant torrentium, et in cavernis terrae, vel super glaream.
so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 Qui inter huiuscemodi laetabantur, et esse sub sentibus delicias computabant.
They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
8 Filii stultorum et ignobilium, et in terra penitus non parentes.
A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
9 Nunc in eorum canticum versus sum, et factus sum eis in proverbium.
And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10 Abominantur me, et longe fugiunt a me, et faciem meam conspuere non verentur.
They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Pharetram enim suam aperuit, et afflixit me, et frenum posuit in os meum.
Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12 Ad dexteram orientis calamitatis meae illico surrexerunt: pedes meos subverterunt, et oppresserunt quasi fluctibus semitis suis.
The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
13 Dissipaverunt itinera mea, insidiati sunt mihi, et praevaluerunt, et non fuit qui ferret auxilium.
They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
14 Quasi rupto muro, et aperta ianua, irruerunt super me, et ad meas miserias devoluti sunt.
They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
15 Redactus sum in nihilum: abiit quasi ventus desiderium meum: et velut nubes pertransiit salus mea.
Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16 Nunc autem in memetipso marcescit anima mea, et possident me dies afflictionis.
And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
17 Nocte os meum perforatur doloribus: et qui me comedunt, non dormiunt.
Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
18 In multitudine eorum consumitur vestimentum meum, et quasi capito tunicae succinxerunt me.
With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
19 Comparatus sum luto, et assimilatus sum favillae et cineri.
He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 Clamo ad te, et non exaudis me: sto, et non respicis me.
I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.
21 Mutatus es mihi in crudelem, et in duritia manus tuae adversaris mihi.
You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
22 Elevasti me, et quasi super ventum ponens elisisti me valide.
You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.
23 Scio quia morti trades me, ubi constituta est domus omni viventi.
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
24 Verumtamen non ad consumptionem meam emittis manum tuam: et si corruerim, ipse salvabis.
Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
25 Flebam quondam super eo, qui afflictus erat, et compatiebatur anima mea pauperi.
Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
26 Expectabam bona, et venerunt mihi mala: praestolabar lucem, et eruperunt tenebrae.
But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
27 Interiora mea efferbuerunt absque ulla requie, praevenerunt me dies afflictionis.
I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
28 Moerens incedebam, sine furore, consurgens, in turba clamabam.
I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 Frater fui draconum, et socius struthionum.
I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
30 Cutis mea denigrata est super me, et ossa mea aruerunt prae caumate.
My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
31 Versa est in luctum cithara mea, et organum meum in vocem flentium.
My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.
