Job 30

¹ But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock .

² What could I gain from the strength of their hands , men whose vigor is gone ?

³ Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation ;

⁴ they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes , and the roots of the broom tree for their food .

⁵ They are driven out from human company ; they shout after them as after a thief .

⁶ In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell , in holes of the earth and of the rocks .

⁷ Among the bushes they bray ; under the nettles they huddle together .

⁸ A senseless , a nameless brood , they have been whipped out of the land .

⁹ And now I have become their song ; I am a byword to them.

¹⁰ They abhor me; they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.

¹¹ Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence .

¹² On my right hand the rabble rise ; they push away my feet ; they cast up against me their ways of destruction .

¹³ They break up my path ; they promote my calamity ; they need no one to help them.

¹⁴ As through a wide breach they come ; amid the crash they roll on .

¹⁵ Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind , and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud .

¹⁶ And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me.

¹⁷ The night racks my bones , and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest .

¹⁸ With great force my garment is disfigured ; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic .

¹⁹ God has cast me into the mire , and I have become like dust and ashes .

²⁰ I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand , and you only look at me.

²¹ You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me.

²² You lift me up on the wind ; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm .

²³ For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living .

²⁴ Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand , and in his disaster cry for help ?

²⁵ Did not I weep for him whose day was hard ? Was not my soul grieved for the needy ?

²⁶ But when I hoped for good , evil came , and when I waited for light , darkness came .

²⁷ My inward parts are in turmoil and never still ; days of affliction come to meet me.

²⁸ I go about darkened , but not by the sun ; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help .

²⁹ I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches .

³⁰ My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat .

³¹ My lyre is turned to mourning , and my pipe to the voice of those who weep .

¹ “But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.

² Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them?

³ Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night.

⁴ In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom bush.

⁵ They were banished from human society, shouted at as if they were thieves.

⁶ They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

⁷ They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth.

⁸ A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.

⁹ “And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

¹⁰ They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

¹¹ Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.

¹² On my right the tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me.

¹³ They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me. ‘No one can help him,` they say.

¹⁴ They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.

¹⁵ Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.

¹⁶ “And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.

¹⁷ Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.

¹⁸ In his great power God becomes like clothing to me; he binds me like the neck of my garment.

¹⁹ He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.

²⁰ “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.

²¹ You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.

²² You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.

²³ I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

²⁴ “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.

²⁵ Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

²⁶ Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.

²⁷ The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.

²⁸ I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

²⁹ I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls.

³⁰ My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever.

³¹ My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing.

¹ But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

² Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

³ For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

⁴ Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

⁵ They were driven forth from among men , ( they cried after them as after a thief;)

⁶ To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.

⁷ Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

⁸ They were children of fools, yea, children of base men : they were viler than the earth.

⁹ And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.

¹⁰ They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.

¹¹ Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.

¹² Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

¹³ They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.

¹⁴ They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters : in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me .

¹⁵ Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind : and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

¹⁶ And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

¹⁷ My bones are pierced in me in the night season : and my sinews take no rest.

¹⁸ By the great force of my disease is my garment changed : it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

¹⁹ He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.

²⁰ I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not .

²¹ Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.

²² Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it , and dissolvest my substance.

²³ For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

²⁴ Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.

²⁵ Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

²⁶ When I looked for good, then evil came unto me : and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

²⁷ My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

²⁸ I went mourning without the sun : I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.

²⁹ I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

³⁰ My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

³¹ My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep. Job 29 Books Job 31