Job 30

1“But now they alaugh at me,
men who are byounger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to set with the dogs of my flock.
2What could I gain from the strength of their hands,
cmen whose dvigor is gone?
3Through want and hard hunger
they egnaw fthe dry ground by night in gwaste and desolation;
4they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes,
and the roots of the broom tree for their food.
Or warmth

5 iThey are driven out from human company;
they shout after them as after a thief.
6In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,
in holes of the earth and of jthe rocks.
7Among the bushes they kbray;
under lthe nettles they huddle together.
8A senseless, a nameless brood,
they have been whipped out of the land.
9 “And now I have become their msong;
I am na byword to them.
10They oabhor me; they keep aloof from me;
they do not hesitate to pspit at the sight of me.
11Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,
they have cast off restraint
Hebrew the bridle
in my presence.
12On my rright hand the rabble rise;
they push away my feet;
they scast up against me their ways of destruction.
13They break up my path;
they promote my tcalamity;
they need no one to help them.
14As through a wide ubreach they come;
amid the crash they roll on.
15 vTerrors are turned upon me;
my honor is pursued as by the wind,
and my prosperity has passed away like wa cloud.
16 “And now my soul is xpoured out within me;
days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 yThe night zracks my bones,
and the pain that aagnaws me takes no rest.
18With great force my garment is abdisfigured;
it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
19God
Hebrew He
has cast me into the mire,
and I have become like addust and ashes.
20I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;
I stand, and you only look at me.
21You have aeturned cruel to me;
with the might of your hand you afpersecute me.
22 agYou lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,
and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
23 ahFor I know that you will bring me to death
and to the house appointed for aiall living.
24 Yet does not one in a ajheap of ruins stretch out his hand,
and in his disaster cry for help?
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

25Did not I alweep for him whose day was hard?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
26But amwhen I hoped for good, evil came,
and when I waited for light, andarkness came.
27My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;
days of affliction aocome to meet me.
28I apgo about darkened, but not by the sun;
I stand up in aqthe assembly and cry for help.
29I am a brother of arjackals
and a companion of asostriches.
30My atskin turns black and falls from me,
and my aubones burn with heat.
31My avlyre is awturned to mourning,
and my axpipe to the voice of those who weep.

Job 31

Job’s Final Appeal

1 “I have made a covenant with my ayeyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
2What would be azmy portion from God above
and bamy heritage from the Almighty on high?
3Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4 bbDoes not he see my ways
and bcnumber all my steps?
5 If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;
6(Let me be bdweighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)
7if my step has turned aside from the way
and bemy heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any bfspot has stuck to my hands,
8then let me bgsow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me
Or  let my descendants
be rooted out.
9 If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have bilain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
10then let my wife bjgrind for another,
and let others bkbow down on her.
11For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity blto be punished by the judges;
12for that would be a fire bmthat consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase.
13 If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
when they brought a complaint against me,
14what then shall I do when God rises up?
When he bnmakes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
15Did bonot he who made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 If I have bpwithheld anything that the poor desired,
or have bqcaused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
18(for from my youth the fatherless
Hebrew he
grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow
Hebrew her
),
19if I have seen anyone btperish for bulack of clothing,
or the needy without bvcovering,
20if his body has not bwblessed me,
Hebrew  if his loins have not blessed me

and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21if I have raised my hand against bythe fatherless,
because I saw my help in bzthe gate,
22then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
23For I was cain terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his cbmajesty.
24 cc“If I have made gold my cdtrust
or called cefine gold my confidence,
25if I have cfrejoiced because my wealth was abundant
or because cgmy hand had found much,
26 chif I have looked at the sun
Hebrew  the light
when it shone,
or cjthe moon moving in splendor,
27and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand,
28this also would be ckan iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.
29 If I have clrejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook him
30( cmI have not let my mouth sin
by asking for his life with a curse),
31if the men of my tent have not said,
Who is there that has not been filled with his cnmeat?’
32( cothe sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler),
33if I cphave concealed my transgressions cqas others do
Or  as Adam did

by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
34because I stood in great fear of csthe multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors
35Oh, that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty ctanswer me!)
Oh, that I had cuthe indictment written by my adversary!
36Surely I would carry it on my cvshoulder;
I would cwbind it on me as cxa crown;
37I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
38 If my land has cried out against me
and its furrows have wept together,
39 cyif I have eaten its yield without payment
and made its owners czbreathe their last,
40let dathorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.

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