30 “But now they make sport of me,
    those who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to set with the dogs of my flock.^(A)
2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands?
    All their vigor is gone.
³ Through want and hard hunger
    they gnaw the dry and desolate ground;
⁴ they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes
    and to warm themselves the roots of broom.
⁵ They are driven out from society;
    people shout after them as after a thief.
⁶ In the gullies of wadis they must live,
    in holes in the ground and in the rocks.
⁷ Among the bushes they bray;
    under the nettles they huddle together.
⁸ A senseless, disreputable brood,
    they have been whipped out of the land.

⁹ “And now they mock me in song;
    I am a byword to them.^(B)
10 They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
    they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.^(C)
11 Because God has loosed my bowstring and humbled me,
    they have cast off restraint in my presence.^(D)
12 On my right hand the rabble rise up;
    they send me sprawling
    and build roads for my ruin.^(E)
13 They break up my path;
    they promote my calamity;
    no one restrains^[a] them.
¹⁴ As through a wide breach they come;
    amid the crash they roll on.
¹⁵ Terrors are turned upon me;
    my honor is pursued as by the wind,
    and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.^(F)

¹⁶ “And now my soul is poured out within me;
    days of affliction have taken hold of me.^(G)
17 The night racks my bones,
    and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
¹⁸ With violence he seizes my garment;^[b]
    he grasps me by^[c] the collar of my tunic.
¹⁹ He has cast me into the mire,
    and I have become like dust and ashes.^(H)
20 I cry to you, and you do not answer me;
    I stand, and you merely look at me.^(I)
21 You have turned cruel to me;
    with the might of your hand you persecute me.^(J)
22 You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it,
    and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.^(K)
23 I know that you will bring me to death,
    to the house appointed for all living.^(L)

²⁴ “Surely one does not turn against the needy,^[d]
    when in disaster they cry for help.^[e](M)
25 Did I not weep for those whose day was hard?
    Was not my soul grieved for the poor?^(N)
26 But when I looked for good, evil came,
    and when I waited for light, darkness came.^(O)
27 My inward parts are in turmoil and are never still;
    days of affliction come to meet me.
²⁸ I go about in sunless gloom;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.^(P)
29 I am a brother of jackals
    and a companion of ostriches.^(Q)
30 My skin turns black and falls from me,
    and my bones burn with heat.^(R)
31 My lyre is turned to mourning
    and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.^(S)

31 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
    how, then, could I look upon a virgin?^(T)
2 What would be my portion from God above
    and my heritage from the Almighty^[f] on high?
³ Does not calamity befall the unrighteous
    and disaster the workers of iniquity?
⁴ Does he not see my ways
    and number all my steps?^(U)

⁵ “If I have walked with falsehood,
    and my foot has hurried to deceit—^(V)
6 let me be weighed in a just balance,
    and let God know my integrity!—^(W)
7 if my step has turned aside from the way,
    and my heart has followed my eyes,
    and if any spot has clung to my hands,^(X)
8 then let me sow and another eat,
    and let what grows for me be rooted out.^(Y)

⁹ “If my heart has been enticed by a woman
    and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,^(Z)
10 then let my wife grind for another,
    and let other men kneel over her.^(AA)
11 For that would be a heinous crime;
    that would be a criminal offense;^(AB)
12 for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon,
    and it would burn to the root all my harvest.^(AC)

¹³ “If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves,
    when they brought a complaint against me,^(AD)
14 what then shall I do when God rises up?
    When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
¹⁵ Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
    And did not one fashion us in the womb?^(AE)

¹⁶ “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired
    or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail^(AF)
17 or have eaten my morsel alone
    and the orphan has not eaten from it—^(AG)
18 for from my youth I reared the orphan^[g] like a father,
    and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow^[h]—
¹⁹ if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing
    or a poor person without covering,
²⁰ whose loins have not blessed me,
    and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;^(AH)
21 if I have raised my hand against the orphan
    because I saw I had supporters at the gate;^(AI)
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken from its socket.^(AJ)
23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,
    and I could not have faced his majesty.^(AK)

²⁴ “If I have made gold my trust
    or called fine gold my confidence,^(AL)
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great
    or because my hand had gotten much,^(AM)
26 if I have looked at the sun^[i] when it shone
    or the moon moving in splendor,^(AN)
27 and my heart has been secretly enticed,
    and my mouth has kissed my hand,
²⁸ this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
    for I should have been false to God above.^(AO)

²⁹ “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me
    or exulted when evil overtook them—^(AP)
30 I have not let my mouth sin
    by asking for their lives with a curse—^(AQ)
31 if those of my tent ever said,
    ‘O that we might be sated with his flesh!’^[j]—^(AR)
32 the stranger has not lodged in the street;
    I have opened my doors to the traveler—^(AS)
33 if I have concealed my transgressions as others do,^[k]
    by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,^(AT)
34 because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
    and the contempt of families terrified me,
    so that I kept silence and did not go out of doors—^(AU)
35 O that I had one to hear me!
    (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty^[l] answer me!)
    O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!^(AV)
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
    I would bind it on me like a crown;
³⁷ I would give him an account of all my steps;
    like a prince I would approach him.^(AW)

³⁸ “If my land has cried out against me
    and its furrows have wept together,^(AX)
39 if I have eaten its yield without payment
    and caused the death of its owners,^(AY)
40 let thorns grow instead of wheat
    and foul weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.^(AZ)

‘You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.’^(G)

‘I will give you the holy promises made to David.’^(H)

‘You will not let your Holy One experience corruption.’^(I)

⁴¹ ‘Look, you scoffers!
    Be amazed and perish,
for in your days I am doing a work,
    a work that you will never believe, even if someone tells you.’ ”

‘I have set you to be a light for the gentiles,
    so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”^(Q)