1‘But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.2Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigour had gone from them?3Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed[1] the parched land in desolate wastelands at night.4In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food[2] was the root of the broom bush.5They were banished from human society, shouted at as if they were thieves.6They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.7They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth.8A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.9‘And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.10They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.11Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.12On my right the tribe[3] attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me.13They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me. “No-one can help him,” they say.14They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.15Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.16‘And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.17Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.18In his great power God becomes like clothing to me[4]; he binds me like the neck of my garment.19He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.20‘I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.21You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.22You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.23I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.24‘Surely no-one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.25Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?26Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.27The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.28I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.29I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls.30My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever.31My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing.
Job 30
English Standard Version
1“But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. (Job 12:4; Job 32:4; Job 32:6)2What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone? (Job 5:26; Job 24:4)3Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation; (Job 30:17; Job 38:27; Jer 2:6; Zep 1:15)4they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.[1]5They are driven out from human company; they shout after them as after a thief. (1Sa 26:19)6In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks. (1Sa 13:6; Jer 4:29)7Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together. (Job 6:5; Pr 24:31; Zep 2:9)8A senseless, a nameless brood, they have been whipped out of the land.9“And now I have become their song; I am a byword to them. (Job 17:6; Ps 69:12; La 3:14; La 3:63)10They abhor me; they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me. (Nu 12:14; Job 17:6; Ps 88:8; Isa 50:6; Mt 26:67; Mt 27:30)11Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint[2] in my presence.12On my right hand the rabble rise; they push away my feet; they cast up against me their ways of destruction. (Job 19:12; Ps 109:6)13They break up my path; they promote my calamity; they need no one to help them. (Job 6:2)14As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on. (Job 16:14)15Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud. (Job 7:9; Job 18:11; Isa 44:22)16“And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. (1Sa 1:15; Job 10:1)17The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. (Job 7:3; Job 30:3; Job 33:19)18With great force my garment is disfigured; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic. (1Sa 28:8; 1Ki 20:38)19God[3] has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. (Ge 18:27; Job 42:6)20I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.21You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. (Job 16:9; Isa 63:10; La 4:3)22You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. (Job 27:21)23For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living. (Job 19:25; Job 28:21)24“Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help?[4] (Ps 79:1; Jer 26:18; Mic 1:6; Mic 3:12)25Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? (Ps 35:13; Ro 12:15)26But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came. (Job 10:21; Jer 8:15; Jer 14:19)27My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me. (2Sa 22:6; Ps 18:5)28I go about darkened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. (Ps 38:6; Ps 42:9; Ps 43:2; Pr 26:26)29I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches. (Isa 13:21; Isa 34:13; Jer 50:39; Mic 1:8)30My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat. (Ps 102:3; Ps 119:83; La 4:8; La 5:10)31My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep. (Job 21:12; La 5:15)