Job 30
1 But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock:
“But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I considered unworthy to put with my sheep dogs.
2 The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they were thought unworthy of life itself.
Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished?
3 Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness, disfigured with calamity and misery.
They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.
4 And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers was their food.
They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom tree are their food.
5 Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry.
They are driven out from among men. They cry after them as after a thief,
6 They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves of earth, or upon the gravel.
so that they live in frightful valleys, and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and counted it delightful to be under the briers.
They bray among the bushes. They are gathered together under the nettles.
8 The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at all upon the earth.
They are children of fools, yes, children of wicked men. They were flogged out of the land.
9 Now I am turned into their song, and am become their byword.
“Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them.
10 They abhor me, and flee far from me, and are not afraid to spit in my face.
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, and don’t hesitate to spit in my face.
11 For he hath opened his quiver, and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle into my mouth.
For he has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint before me.
12 At the right hand of my rising, my calamities forthwith arose: they have overthrown my feet, and have overwhelmed me with their paths as with waves.
On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet. They cast their ways of destruction up against me.
13 They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help.
They mar my path. They promote my destruction without anyone’s help.
14 They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and a gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my miseries.
As through a wide breach they come. They roll themselves in amid the ruin.
15 I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud.
Terrors have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.
16 And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me.
“Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 In the night my bone is pierced with sorrows: and they that feed upon me, do not sleep.
In the night season my bones are pierced in me, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
18 With the multitude of them my garment is consumed, and they have girded me about, as with the collar of my coat.
My garment is disfigured by great force. It binds me about as the collar of my tunic.
19 I am compared to dirt, and am likened to embers and ashes.
He has cast me into the mire. I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to thee, and thou hearest me not: I stand up, and thou dost not regard me.
I cry to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.
21 Thou art changed to be cruel toward me, and in the hardness of thy hand thou art against me.
You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of your hand you persecute me.
22 Thou hast lifted me up, and set me as it were upon the wind, and thou hast mightily dashed me.
You lift me up to the wind, and drive me with it. You dissolve me in the storm.
23 I know that thou wilt deliver me to death, where a house is appointed for every one that liveth.
For I know that you will bring me to death, to the house appointed for all living.
24 But yet thou stretchest not forth thy hand to their consumption: and if they shall fall down thou wilt save.
“However doesn’t one stretch out a hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
25 I wept heretofore for him that was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.
Didn’t I weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn’t my soul grieved for the needy?
26 I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I waited for light, and darkness broke out.
When I looked for good, then evil came. When I waited for light, darkness came.
27 My inner parts have boiled without any rest, the days of affliction have prevented me.
My heart is troubled, and doesn’t rest. Days of affliction have come on me.
28 I went mourning without indignation; I rose up, and cried in the crowd.
I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
29 I was the brother of dragons, and companion of ostriches.
I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.
30 My skin is become black upon me, and my bones are dried up with heat.
My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.
31 My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep.
Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.
