Job 30
1Now those who are younger than I have nothing but mockery for me— 1 these young men whose fathers I would have refused to allow to work beside the dogs of my flock. 1
2Indeed, the strength of their fathers' hands, how could it have helped me— 1 men in whom the strength of their mature age had perished? 1
3They were thin from poverty and hunger; 1 they gnawed at the dry ground in the darkness of wilderness and desolation. 1
4They plucked saltwort and bushes' leaves; 1 the roots of the broom tree were their food. 1
5They were driven out from among people 1 who shouted after them as one would shout after a thief. 1
6So they had to live in river valleys, 1 in holes of the earth and of the rocks. 1
7Among the bushes they brayed like donkeys 1 and they gathered together under the nettles. 1
8They were the sons of fools, indeed, sons of nameless people! 1 They were driven out of the land with whips. 1
9But now I have become the subject of their taunting song; 1 I have become a byword for them. 1
10They abhor me and stand far off from me; 1 they do not refrain from spitting in my face. 1
11For God has unstrung the string to my bow and afflicted me, 1 and those who taunt me cast off restraint before my face. 1
12Upon my right hand rise the rabble; 1 they drive me away and 1 pile up against me their siege mounds. 1
13They destroy my path; 1 they push forward disaster for me, 1 men who have no one to hold them back. 1
14They come against me like an army through a wide hole in a city wall; 1 in the midst of the destruction they roll themselves in on me. 1
15Terrors are turned upon me; 1 my honor is driven away as if by the wind; 1 my prosperity passes away as a cloud. 1
16Now my life is pouring out from within me; 1 many days of suffering have laid hold on me. 1
17In the night my bones in me are pierced; 1 the pains that gnaw at me take no rest. 1
18God's great force has seized my clothing; 1 it wraps around me like the collar of my tunic. 1
19He has thrown me into the mud; 1 I have become like dust and ashes. 1
20I cry to you, God, but you do not answer me; 1 I stand up, and you merely look at me. 1
21You have changed and become cruel to me; 1 with the strength of your hand you persecute me. 1
22You lift me up to the wind and cause it to drive me along; 1 you throw me back and forth in a storm. + 30:22 Some modern versions have you dissolve me in a storm . 1
23For I know that you will bring me to death, 1 to the house appointed for all the living. 1
24However, does no one reach out with his hand to beg for help when he falls? 1 Does no one in trouble call out for help? 1
25Did not I weep for him who was in trouble? 1 Did I not grieve for the needy man? 1
26When I hoped for good, then evil came; 1 when I waited for light, darkness came instead. 1
27My heart is troubled and does not rest; 1 days of affliction have come on me. 1
28I have gone about like one who was living in the dark, 1 but not because of the sun; 1 I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. 1
29I am a brother to jackals, 1 a companion of ostriches. 1
30My skin is black and falls away from me; 1 my bones are burned with heat. 1
31Therefore my harp is tuned for songs of mourning, 1 my flute for the singing of those who wail.