Job 30
1 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
“And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock.
2 Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me? men in whom ripe age is perished.
Also—the power of their hands, why [is it] to me? On them old age has perished.
3 They are gaunt with want and famine; they gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.
With want and with harsh famine, They are gnawing a dry place [in] the recent night, [In] desolation and ruin,
4 They pluck salt-wort with wormwood; and the roots of the broom are their food.
Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And their food [is] root of broom trees.
5 They are driven forth from the midst of men; they cry after them as after a thief.
They are cast out from the midst (They shout against them as a thief),
6 In the clefts of the valleys must they dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
To dwell in a frightful place of valleys, Holes of earth and clefts.
7 Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they are gathered together.
They groan among shrubs, They are gathered together under nettles.
8 They are children of churls, yea, children of ignoble men; they were scourged out of the land.
Sons of folly—even sons without name, They have been struck from the land.
9 And now I am become their song, yea, I am a byword unto them.
And now, I have been their song, And I am to them for a byword.
10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
They have detested me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.
11 For He hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, and they have cast off the bridle before me.
Because He loosed His cord and afflicts me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.
12 Upon my right hand rise the brood; they entangle my feet, and they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
A brood arises on the right hand, They have cast away my feet, And they raise up against me, Their paths of calamity.
13 They break up my path, they further my calamity, even men that have no helper.
They have broken down my path, They profit by my calamity: He has no helper.
14 As through a wide breach they come; in the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.
They come as a wide breach, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
15 Terrors are turned upon me, they chase mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away as a cloud.
He has turned terrors against me, It pursues my abundance as the wind, And as a thick cloud, My safety has passed away.
16 And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
And now, in me my soul pours itself out, Days of affliction seize me.
17 In the night my bones are pierced, and fall from me, and my sinews take no rest.
[At] night my bone has been pierced in me, And my gnawing [pain] does not lie down.
18 By the great force of my disease is my garment disfigured; it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it girds me.
19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
Casting me into mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry unto Thee, and Thou dost not answer me; I stand up, and Thou lookest at me.
I cry to You, And You do not answer me, I have stood, and You consider me.
21 Thou art turned to be cruel to me; with the might of Thy hand Thou hatest me.
You are turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Your hand, You oppress me.
22 Thou liftest me up to the wind, Thou causest me to ride upon it; and Thou dissolvest my substance.
You lift me up, You cause me to ride on the wind, And You melt—You level me.
23 For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
For I have known You bring me back [to] death, And [to] the house appointed for all living.
24 Surely none shall put forth his hand to a ruinous heap, neither because of these things shall help come in one's calamity,
Surely not against the heap Does He send forth the hand, Though they have safety in its ruin.
25 If I have not wept for him that was in trouble, and if my soul grieved not for the needy.
Did I not weep for him whose day is hard? My soul has grieved for the needy.
26 Yet, when I looked for good, there came evil; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
When I expected good, then comes evil, And I wait for light, and darkness comes.
27 Mine inwards boil, and rest not; days of affliction are come upon me.
My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Days of affliction have gone before me.
28 I go mourning without the sun; I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
I have gone mourning without the sun, I have risen, I cry in an assembly.
29 I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.
I have been a brother to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
30 My skin is black, and falleth from me, and my bones are burned with heat.
My skin has been black on me, And my bone has burned from heat,
31 Therefore is my harp turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of them that weep.
And my harp becomes mourning, And my pipe the sound of weeping.”
