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Job Speaks of His Anguish

30 “But now I am mocked by people younger than I,
    by young men whose fathers are not worthy to run with my sheepdogs.
A lot of good they are to me—
    those worn-out wretches!
They are gaunt from poverty and hunger.
    They claw the dry ground in desolate wastelands.
They pluck wild greens from among the bushes
    and eat from the roots of broom trees.
They are driven from human society,
    and people shout at them as if they were thieves.
So now they live in frightening ravines,
    in caves and among the rocks.
They sound like animals howling among the bushes,
    huddled together beneath the nettles.
They are nameless fools,
    outcasts from society.

“And now they mock me with vulgar songs!
    They taunt me!
10 They despise me and won’t come near me,
    except to spit in my face.
11 For God has cut my bowstring.
    He has humbled me,
    so they have thrown off all restraint.
12 These outcasts oppose me to my face.
    They send me sprawling
    and lay traps in my path.
13 They block my road
    and do everything they can to destroy me.
They know I have no one to help me.
14     They come at me from all directions.
They jump on me when I am down.
15     I live in terror now.
My honor has blown away in the wind,
    and my prosperity has vanished like a cloud.

16 “And now my life seeps away.
    Depression haunts my days.
17 At night my bones are filled with pain,
    which gnaws at me relentlessly.
18 With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt.[a]
    He grips me by the collar of my coat.
19 He has thrown me into the mud.
    I’m nothing more than dust and ashes.

20 “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer.
    I stand before you, but you don’t even look.
21 You have become cruel toward me.
    You use your power to persecute me.
22 You throw me into the whirlwind
    and destroy me in the storm.
23 And I know you are sending me to my death—
    the destination of all who live.

24 “Surely no one would turn against the needy
    when they cry for help in their trouble.
25 Did I not weep for those in trouble?
    Was I not deeply grieved for the needy?
26 So I looked for good, but evil came instead.
    I waited for the light, but darkness fell.
27 My heart is troubled and restless.
    Days of suffering torment me.
28 I walk in gloom, without sunlight.
    I stand in the public square and cry for help.
29 Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals
    and a companion to owls.
30 My skin has turned dark,
    and my bones burn with fever.
31 My harp plays sad music,
    and my flute accompanies those who weep.

Footnotes

  1. 30:18 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads hand, my garment is disfigured.

30 “But now they mock me,(A)
    men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to put with my sheep dogs.(B)
Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
    since their vigor had gone from them?
Haggard from want and hunger,
    they roamed[a] the parched land(C)
    in desolate wastelands(D) at night.(E)
In the brush they gathered salt herbs,(F)
    and their food[b] was the root of the broom bush.(G)
They were banished from human society,
    shouted at as if they were thieves.
They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
    among the rocks and in holes in the ground.(H)
They brayed(I) among the bushes(J)
    and huddled in the undergrowth.
A base and nameless brood,(K)
    they were driven out of the land.(L)

“And now those young men mock me(M) in song;(N)
    I have become a byword(O) among them.
10 They detest me(P) and keep their distance;
    they do not hesitate to spit in my face.(Q)
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow(R) and afflicted me,(S)
    they throw off restraint(T) in my presence.
12 On my right(U) the tribe[c] attacks;
    they lay snares(V) for my feet,(W)
    they build their siege ramps against me.(X)
13 They break up my road;(Y)
    they succeed in destroying me.(Z)
    ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;(AA)
    amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Terrors(AB) overwhelm me;(AC)
    my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
    my safety vanishes like a cloud.(AD)

16 “And now my life ebbs away;(AE)
    days of suffering grip me.(AF)
17 Night pierces my bones;
    my gnawing pains never rest.(AG)
18 In his great power(AH) God becomes like clothing to me[d];
    he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud,(AI)
    and I am reduced to dust and ashes.(AJ)

20 “I cry out to you,(AK) God, but you do not answer;(AL)
    I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;(AM)
    with the might of your hand(AN) you attack me.(AO)
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;(AP)
    you toss me about in the storm.(AQ)
23 I know you will bring me down to death,(AR)
    to the place appointed for all the living.(AS)

24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man(AT)
    when he cries for help in his distress.(AU)
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?(AV)
    Has not my soul grieved for the poor?(AW)
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
    when I looked for light, then came darkness.(AX)
27 The churning inside me never stops;(AY)
    days of suffering confront me.(AZ)
28 I go about blackened,(BA) but not by the sun;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.(BB)
29 I have become a brother of jackals,(BC)
    a companion of owls.(BD)
30 My skin grows black(BE) and peels;(BF)
    my body burns with fever.(BG)
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,(BH)
    and my pipe(BI) to the sound of wailing.

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:3 Or gnawed
  2. Job 30:4 Or fuel
  3. Job 30:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  4. Job 30:18 Hebrew; Septuagint power he grasps my clothing