Job 30
1 nunc autem derident me iuniores tempore quorum non dignabar patres ponere cum canibus gregis mei
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 quorum virtus manuum erat mihi pro nihilo et vita ipsa putabantur indigni
Even the strength of their hands, wherefore was it mine? Upon them, vigour was lost;
3 egestate et fame steriles qui rodebant in solitudine squalentes calamitate et miseria
In want and hunger, they were lean, —who used to gnaw the dry ground, a dark night of desolation!
4 et mandebant herbas et arborum cortices et radix iuniperorum erat cibus eorum
Who used to pluck off the mallow by the bushes, with the root of the broom for their food;
5 qui de convallibus ista rapientes cum singula repperissent ad ea cum clamore currebant
Out of the midst, were they driven, men shouted after them, as after a thief;
6 in desertis habitabant torrentium et in cavernis terrae vel super glaream
In the fissures, of the ravines had they to dwell, in holes of dust and crags;
7 qui inter huiuscemodi laetabantur et esse sub sentibus delicias conputabant
Among the bushes, used they to shriek, Under the bramble, were they huddled together:
8 filii stultorum et ignobilium et in terra penitus non parentes
Sons of the base, yea sons of the nameless, they were scourged out of the land.
9 nunc in eorum canticum versus sum et factus sum eis proverbium
But, now, their song, have I become, Yea I serve them for a byword;
10 abominantur me et longe fugiunt a me et faciem meam conspuere non verentur
They abhor me—have put themselves far from me, and, from my face, have not withheld—spittle!
11 faretram enim suam aperuit et adflixit me et frenum posuit in os meum
Because, my girdle, he had loosened and had humbled me, therefore, the bridle—in my presence, cast they off;
12 ad dexteram orientis calamitatis meae ilico surrexerunt pedes meos subverterunt et oppresserunt quasi fluctibus semitis suis
On my right hand, the young brood rose up, —My feet, they thrust aside, and cast up against me their earthworks of destruction;
13 dissipaverunt itinera mea insidiati sunt mihi et praevaluerunt et non fuit qui ferret auxilium
They brake up my path, —My engulfing ruin, they helped forward, unaided;
14 quasi rupto muro et aperta ianua inruerunt super me et ad meas miserias devoluti sunt
As through a wide breach, came they on, with a crashing noise, they rolled themselves along.
15 redactus sum in nihili abstulisti quasi ventus desiderium meum et velut nubes pertransiit salus mea
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 nunc autem in memet ipso marcescit anima mea et possident me dies adflictionis
Now, therefore, over myself, my soul poureth itself out, There seize me days of affliction:
17 nocte os meum perforatur doloribus et qui me comedunt non dormiunt
Night, boreth, my bones, all over me, —and, my sinews, find no rest;
18 in multitudine eorum consumitur vestimentum meum et quasi capitio tunicae sic cinxerunt me
Most effectually, is my skin disfigured, —Like the collar of my tunic, it girdeth me about:
19 conparatus sum luto et adsimilatus favillae et cineri
He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 clamo ad te et non exaudis me sto et non respicis me
I cry out for help unto thee, and thou dost not answer, I stand still, and thou dost gaze at me;
21 mutatus es mihi in crudelem et in duritia manus tuae adversaris mihi
Thou art turned to become a cruel one unto me, With the might of thy hand, thou assailest me;
22 elevasti me et quasi super ventum ponens elisisti me valide
Thou liftest up me to the wind, thou carriest me away, and the storm maketh me faint;
23 scio quia morti tradas me ubi constituta domus est omni viventi
For I know that, unto death, thou wilt bring me back, even unto the house of meeting for every one living.
24 verumtamen non ad consumptionem eorum emittis manum tuam et si corruerint ipse salvabis
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 flebam quondam super eum qui adflictus erat et conpatiebatur anima mea pauperi
Verily I wept, for him whose lot was hard, Grieved was my soul, for the needy.
26 expectabam bona et venerunt mihi mala praestolabar lucem et eruperunt tenebrae
Surely, for good, I looked, but there came in evil, And I waited for light, but there came in darkness;
27 interiora mea efferbuerunt absque ulla requie praevenerunt me dies adflictionis
I boiled within me, and rested not, There confronted me—days of affliction;
28 maerens incedebam sine furore consurgens in turba clamavi
In gloom, I walked along, without sun, I arose—in the convocation, I cried out for help;
29 frater fui draconum et socius strutionum
A brother, became I to the brutes that howl, and a companion to the birds that screech:
30 cutis mea denigrata est super me et ossa mea aruerunt prae caumate
My skin, turned black, and peeled off me, and, my bones, burned with heat:
31 versa est in luctum cithara mea et organum meum in vocem flentium
Thus is attuned to mourning—my lyre, and my flute, to the noise of them who weep.
