איוב 30

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

"But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.

2 גם-כח ידיהם למה לי עלימו אבד כלח

Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished?

3 בחסר ובכפן גלמוד הערקים ציה--אמש שואה ומשאה

They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.

4 הקטפים מלוח עלי-שיח ושרש רתמים לחמם

They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom are their food.

5 מן-גו יגרשו יריעו עלימו כגנב

They are driven out from the midst of men. They cry after them as after a thief;

6 בערוץ נחלים לשכן חרי עפר וכפים

So that they dwell in frightful valleys, and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7 בין-שיחים ינהקו תחת חרול יספחו

Among the bushes they bray; and under the nettles they are gathered together.

8 בני-נבל גם-בני בלי-שם-- נכאו מן-הארץ

They are children of fools, yes, children of base men. They were flogged out of the land.

9 ועתה נגינתם הייתי ואהי להם למלה

"Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them.

10 תעבוני רחקו מני ומפני לא-חשכו רק

They abhor me, they keep their distance from me, and do not hesitate to spit in my face.

11 כי-יתרו (יתרי) פתח ויענני ורסן מפני שלחו

For he has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint before me.

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

On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet, They cast up against me their ways of destruction.

13 נתסו נתיבתי להותי יעילו לא עזר למו

They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, without anyone's help.

14 כפרץ רחב יאתיו תחת שאה התגלגלו

As through a wide breach they come, in the midst of the ruin they roll themselves in.

15 ההפך עלי בלהות תרדף כרוח נדבתי וכעב עברה ישעתי

Terrors have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.

16 ועתה--עלי תשתפך נפשי יאחזוני ימי-עני

"Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold on me.

17 לילה--עצמי נקר מעלי וערקי לא ישכבון

In the night season my bones are pierced in me, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest.

18 ברב-כח יתחפש לבושי כפי כתנתי יאזרני

By great force is my garment disfigured. It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

19 הרני לחמר ואתמשל כעפר ואפר

He has cast me into the mire. I have become like dust and ashes.

20 אשוע אליך ולא תענני עמדתי ותתבנן בי

I cry to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.

21 תהפך לאכזר לי בעצם ידך תשטמני

You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of your hand you persecute me.

22 תשאני אל-רוח תרכיבני ותמגגני תשוה (תשיה)

You lift me up to the wind, and drive me with it. You dissolve me in the storm.

23 כי-ידעתי מות תשיבני ובית מועד לכל-חי

For I know that you will bring me to death, To the house appointed for all living.

24 אך לא-בעי ישלח-יד אם-בפידו להן שוע

"However doesn't one stretch out a hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?

25 אם-לא בכיתי לקשה-יום עגמה נפשי לאביון

Did I not weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn't my soul grieved for the needy?

26 כי טוב קויתי ויבא רע ואיחלה לאור ויבא אפל

When I looked for good, then evil came; When I waited for light, there came darkness.

27 מעי רתחו ולא-דמו קדמני ימי-עני

My heart is troubled, and doesn't rest. Days of affliction have come on me.

28 קדר הלכתי בלא חמה קמתי בקהל אשוע

I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

29 אח הייתי לתנים ורע לבנות יענה

I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.

30 עורי שחר מעלי ועצמי-חרה מני-חרב

My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.

31 ויהי לאבל כנרי ועגבי לקול בכים

Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.