Job 30

Job’s Present State Is Humiliating

1 “But now those younger than I ^amock me,
Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.
2 “Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
Vigor had perished from them.
3 “From want and famine they are gaunt
Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,
4 Who pluck ^{▼▼ I.e. plant of the salt marshes}mallow by the bushes,
And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.
5 “They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,
6 So that they dwell in dreadful ^{▼▼ Or wadis}valleys,
In holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 “Among the bushes they ^{▼▼ Or bray}cry out;
Under the nettles they are gathered together.
8 ^{▼▼ Lit Sons of fools}“Fools, even ^{▼▼ Lit sons}those without a name,
They were scourged from the land.

9 “And now I have become their ^{▼▼ Lit song
,} ^htaunt,
I have even become a ⁱbyword to them.
10 “They abhor me and stand aloof from me,
And they do not ^{▼▼ Lit withhold spit from my face}refrain from ^kspitting at my face.
11 “Because ^{▼▼ Or they}He has loosed ^{▼▼ Some mss read my}His ^{▼▼ Or cord}bowstring and ^oafflicted me,
They have cast off ^pthe bridle before me.
12 “On the right hand their ^{▼▼ Possibly sprout or offspring}brood arises;
They ^rthrust aside my feet ^sand build up against me their ways of destruction.
13 “They ^tbreak up my path,
They profit ^{▼▼ Lit for}from my destruction;
No one restrains them.
14 “As through a wide breach they come,
^{▼▼ Lit Under}Amid the tempest they roll on.
15 ^w“Terrors are turned against me;
They pursue my ^{▼▼ Or nobility}honor as the wind,
And my ^{▼▼ Or welfare}prosperity has passed away ^zlike a cloud.

16 “And now ^aamy soul is poured out ^{▼▼ Lit upon}within me;
Days of affliction have seized me.
17 “At night it pierces ^acmy bones ^{▼▼ Lit from upon}within me,
And my gnawing pains take no rest.
18 “By a great force my garment is ^aedistorted;
It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
19 “He has cast me into the ^afmire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 “I ^agcry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.
21 “You have ^{▼▼ Lit turned to be}become cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You ^aipersecute me.
22 “You ^ajlift me up to the wind and cause me to ride;
And You dissolve me in a storm.
23 “For I know that You ^akwill bring me to death
And to the ^alhouse of meeting for all living.

24 “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
Or in his disaster therefore ^amcry out for help?
25 “Have I not ^anwept for the ^{▼▼ Lit hard of day}one whose life is hard?
Was not my soul grieved for ^apthe needy?
26 “When I ^aqexpected good, then evil came;
When I waited for light, ^arthen darkness came.
27 ^{▼▼ Lit My inward parts are boiling}“I am seething ^atwithin and cannot relax;
Days of affliction confront me.
28 “I go about ^{▼▼ Or blackened, but not by the heat of the sun
,} ^avmourning without comfort;
I stand up in the assembly and ^awcry out for help.
29 “I have become a brother to ^axjackals
And a companion of ostriches.
30 “My ^ayskin turns black ^{▼▼ Lit from upon}on me,
And my ^babones burn with ^{▼▼ Lit heat}fever.
31 “Therefore my ^bcharp ^{▼▼ Lit becomes}is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep.