Job 30

¹"But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.

²Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished?

³They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.

⁴They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom are their food.

⁵They are driven out from the midst of men. They cry after them as after a thief;

⁶So that they dwell in frightful valleys, and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

⁷Among the bushes they bray; and under the nettles they are gathered together.

⁸They are children of fools, yes, children of base men. They were flogged out of the land.

⁹"Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them.

¹⁰They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, and do not hesitate to spit in my face.

¹¹For he has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint before me.

¹²On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet, They cast up against me their ways of destruction.

¹³They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, without anyone's help.

¹⁴As through a wide breach they come, in the midst of the ruin they roll themselves in.

¹⁵Terrors have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.

¹⁶"Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold on me.

¹⁷In the night season my bones are pierced in me, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest.

¹⁸By great force is my garment disfigured. It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

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

²⁰I cry to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.

²¹You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of your hand you persecute me.

²²You lift me up to the wind, and drive me with it. You dissolve me in the storm.

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

²⁴"However doesn't one stretch out a hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?

²⁵Did I not weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn't my soul grieved for the needy?

²⁶When I looked for good, then evil came; When I waited for light, there came darkness.

²⁷My heart is troubled, and doesn't rest. Days of affliction have come on me.

²⁸I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

²⁹I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.

³⁰My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.

³¹Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.

Job 30

¹But 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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