Job 30

1But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, Whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

1But now people younger than I am make fun of me—men whose fathers I would have refused to put even with my sheepdogs.

2Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me? Men in whom ripe age is perished.

2Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had completely vanished?

3They are gaunt with want and famine; They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.

3Worn out from want and hunger, they roam the parched wasteland in the gloom of desolated places.

4They pluck salt-wort by the bushes; And the roots of the broom are their food.

4They pick salty herbs from among the bushes, and the roots of the broom tree are their only food.

5They are driven forth from the midst of men; They cry after them as after a thief;

5They are driven away from society; people shout at them as if they were thieves.

6So that they dwell in frightful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

6They are forced to live in the dry beds of ravines, in holes in the ground and among the rocks.

7Among the bushes they bray; Under the nettles they are gathered together.

7They bray like animals among the bushes and huddle together under the nettles.

8They arechildren of fools, yea, children of base men; They were scourged out of the land.

8They are a nameless gang of fools, kicked out of the land.

9And now I am become their song, Yea, I am a byword unto them.

9And now these same people mock me with songs; I have become a joke to them.

10They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, And spare not to spit in my face.

10They detest me and keep their distance; they don't even hesitate to spit in my face.

11For he hath loosed his cord, and afflicted me; And they have cast off the bridle before me.

11Because God has loosened my bowstring and humbled me, they throw off all restraint in my presence.

12Upon my right hand rise the rabble; They thrust aside my feet, And they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

12On my right side the rabble rises up; they trip my feet and build siege ramps to destroy me.

13They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, Even men that have no helper.

13They break up my path and succeed in ruining me; they don't even need anyone to help them.

14As through a wide breach they come: In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.

14They come at me as if through a wide breach in a wall; they roll in among the ruins.

15Terrors are turned upon me; They chase mine honor as the wind; And my welfare is passed away as a cloud.

15Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is blown away like the wind, and my safety vanishes like a cloud.

16And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

16And now my life pours out of me; days of suffering have gripped me.

17In the night season my bones are pierced in me, And thepainsthat gnaw me take no rest.

17Night pierces my bones with pain; the gnawing aches never rest.

18By God’sgreat force is my garment disfigured; It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

18With great force God grabs my clothing; he chokes me by the collar of my robe.

19He hath cast me into the mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.

19He has thrown me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

20I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me: I stand up, and thou gazest at me.

20I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you just look at me.

21Thou art turned to be cruel to me; With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.

21You have turned out to be cruel to me; you attack me with the power of your hand.

22Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to rideupon it; And thou dissolvest me in the storm.

22You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.

23For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.

23I know you are bringing me down to death, to the place where everyone must eventually go.

24Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?

24Surely no one would stretch out a hand against a ruined man when he cries for help in his disaster.

25Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

25Did I not weep for those in trouble? Was I not deeply grieved for the poor?

26When I looked for good, then evil came; And when I waited for light, there came darkness.

26Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness arrived.

27My heart is troubled, and resteth not; Days of affliction are come upon me.

27My insides are in constant turmoil; days of suffering have confronted me.

28I go mourning without the sun: I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

28I wander about in gloom without the sun; I stand up in the public assembly and cry for help.

29I am a brother to jackals, And a companion to ostriches.

29I have become a brother to howling jackals and a companion to owls.

30My skin is black, and fallethfrom me, And my bones are burned with heat.

30My skin grows black and peels off; my body burns with fever.

31Therefore is my harpturnedto mourning, And my pipe into the voice of them that weep.

31My harp is tuned only for mourning, and my flute plays the sound of weeping.