Job 30

Job’s Present State Is Humiliating

1 “But now those who are younger than I ^amock me,
Whose fathers I refused 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 poverty and famine they are gaunt,
They who gnaw at the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,
4 Who pluck saltweed 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 live on the slopes of ravines,
In holes in the ground and among the rocks.
7 “Among the bushes they ^{▼▼Or bray}cry out;
Under the weeds they are gathered together.
8 “Worthless ^{▼▼Lit sons}fellows, even ^{▼▼Lit sons}those without a name,
They were cast out from the land.

9 “And now I have become their ^{▼▼Lit song} ^ftaunt,
And I have become a ^{▼▼I.e., prob. a word of insult} ^hbyword to them.
10 “They loathe me and stand aloof from me,
And they do not ^{▼▼Lit withhold spit from my face}refrain from ^jspitting in my face.
11 “Because He has undone ^{▼▼Some mss His}my ^{▼▼Or cord}bowstring and ^mafflicted me,
They have cast off ⁿthe bridle before me.
12 “On the right hand their ^{▼▼Or youth arise}mob arises;
They ^ppush aside my feet ^qand pile up their ways of destruction against me.
13 “They ^rbreak up my path,
They promote my destruction;
No one restrains them.
14 “As through a wide gap they come,
^{▼▼Lit Under}Amid the storm they roll on.
15 “ ^tSudden terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my dignity like the wind,
And my ^{▼▼Or welfare}prosperity has passed away ^vlike a cloud.

16 “And now ^wmy soul is poured out ^{▼▼Lit upon}within me;
Days of misery have seized me.
17 “At night it pierces ^ymy bones ^{▼▼Lit from upon}within me,
And my gnawing pains do not rest.
18 “By a great force my garment is ^aadistorted;
It ties me up like the collar of my coat.
19 “He has thrown me into the ^abmire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 “I ^accry 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 strength of Your hand You ^aepersecute me.
22 “You ^aflift me up to the wind and make me ride it;
And You dissolve me in a storm.
23 “For I know that You ^agwill bring me to death,
And to the ^ahhouse of meeting for all living.

24 “Yet does one in a heap of ruins not reach out with his hand,
Or in his disaster does he not ^aicry out for help?
25 “Have I not ^ajwept for the ^{▼▼Lit hard of day}one whose life is hard?
Was my soul not grieved for ^althe needy?
26 “When I ^amexpected good, evil came;
When I waited for light, ^andarkness came.
27 “ ^{▼▼Lit My inward parts are boiling}I am seething ^apwithin and cannot rest;
Days of misery confront me.
28 “I go about ^{▼▼Or blackened, but not by the heat of the sun} ^armourning without comfort;
I stand up in the assembly and ^ascry out for help.
29 “I have become a brother to ^atjackals,
And a companion of ostriches.
30 “My ^auskin turns black ^{▼▼Lit from upon}on me,
And my ^awbones burn with ^{▼▼Lit heat}fever.
31 “Therefore my ^ayharp ^{▼▼Lit becomes}is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep.