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 among 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 wicked 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 don’t 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 middle 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? ²⁵Didn’t I 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.

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 cliffs 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.