30 “But now they ^(A)laugh at me,
    men who are ^(B)younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to set with the dogs of my flock.
² What could I gain from the strength of their hands,
    ^(C)men whose ^(D)vigor is gone?
³ Through want and hard hunger
    they ^(E)gnaw ^(F)the dry ground by night in ^(G)waste and desolation;
⁴ they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes,
    and the roots of the broom tree for their food.^[a]
5 (H)They are driven out from human company;
    they shout after them as after a thief.
⁶ In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,
    in holes of the earth and of ^(I)the rocks.
⁷ Among the bushes they ^(J)bray;
    under ^(K)the nettles they huddle together.
⁸ A senseless, a nameless brood,
    they have been whipped out of the land.

⁹ “And now I have become their ^(L)song;
    I am ^(M)a byword to them.
¹⁰ They ^(N)abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
    they do not hesitate to ^(O)spit at the sight of me.
¹¹ Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,
    they have cast off restraint^[b] in my presence.
¹² On my ^(P)right hand the rabble rise;
    they push away my feet;
    they ^(Q)cast up against me their ways of destruction.
¹³ They break up my path;
    they promote my ^(R)calamity;
    they need no one to help them.
¹⁴ As through a wide ^(S)breach they come;
    amid the crash they roll on.
^15 (T)Terrors are turned upon me;
    my honor is pursued as by the wind,
    and my prosperity has passed away like ^(U)a cloud.

¹⁶ “And now my soul is ^(V)poured out within me;
    days of affliction have taken hold of me.
^17 (W)The night ^(X)racks my bones,
    and the pain that ^(Y)gnaws me takes no rest.
¹⁸ With great force my garment is ^(Z)disfigured;
    it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
¹⁹ God^[c] has cast me into the mire,
    and I have become like ^(AA)dust and ashes.
²⁰ I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;
    I stand, and you only look at me.
²¹ You have ^(AB)turned cruel to me;
    with the might of your hand you ^(AC)persecute me.
^22 (AD)You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,
    and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
^23 (AE)For I know that you will bring me to death
    and to the house appointed for ^(AF)all living.

²⁴ “Yet does not one in a ^(AG)heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
    and in his disaster cry for help?^[d]
25 Did not I ^(AH)weep for him whose day was hard?
    Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
²⁶ But ^(AI)when I hoped for good, evil came,
    and when I waited for light, ^(AJ)darkness came.
²⁷ My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;
    days of affliction ^(AK)come to meet me.
²⁸ I ^(AL)go about darkened, but not by the sun;
    I stand up in ^(AM)the assembly and cry for help.
²⁹ I am a brother of ^(AN)jackals
    and a companion of ^(AO)ostriches.
³⁰ My ^(AP)skin turns black and falls from me,
    and my ^(AQ)bones burn with heat.
³¹ My ^(AR)lyre is ^(AS)turned to mourning,
    and my ^(AT)pipe to the voice of those who weep.

⁵ “If I have walked with falsehood
    and my foot has hastened to deceit;
⁶ (Let me be ^(AZ)weighed in a just balance,
    and let God know my integrity!)
⁷ if my step has turned aside from the way
    and ^(BA)my heart has gone after my eyes,
    and if any ^(BB)spot has stuck to my hands,
⁸ then let me ^(BC)sow, and another eat,
    and let what grows for me^[e] be rooted out.

⁹ “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
    and I have ^(BD)lain in wait at my neighbor's door,
¹⁰ then let my wife ^(BE)grind for another,
    and let others ^(BF)bow down on her.
¹¹ For that would be a heinous crime;
    that would be an iniquity ^(BG)to be punished by the judges;
¹² for that would be a fire ^(BH)that 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,
¹⁴ what then shall I do when God rises up?
    When he ^(BI)makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
¹⁵ Did ^(BJ)not he who made me in the womb make him?
    And did not one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶ “If I have ^(BK)withheld anything that the poor desired,
    or have ^(BL)caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
¹⁷ or have eaten my morsel alone,
    and the fatherless has not eaten of it
¹⁸ (for from my youth the fatherless^[f] grew up with me as with a father,
    and from my mother's womb I guided the widow^[g]),
¹⁹ if I have seen anyone ^(BM)perish for ^(BN)lack of clothing,
    or the needy without ^(BO)covering,
²⁰ if his body has not ^(BP)blessed me,^[h]
    and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
²¹ if I have raised my hand against ^(BQ)the fatherless,
    because I saw my help in ^(BR)the gate,
²² then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken from its socket.
²³ For I was ^(BS)in terror of calamity from God,
    and I could not have faced his ^(BT)majesty.

^24 (BU)“If I have made gold my ^(BV)trust
    or called ^(BW)fine gold my confidence,
²⁵ if I have ^(BX)rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
    or because ^(BY)my hand had found much,
^26 (BZ)if I have looked at the sun^[i] when it shone,
    or ^(CA)the moon moving in splendor,
²⁷ and my heart has been secretly enticed,
    and my mouth has kissed my hand,
²⁸ this also would be ^(CB)an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
    for I would have been false to God above.

²⁹ “If I have ^(CC)rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
    or exulted when evil overtook him
³⁰ (^(CD)I have not let my mouth sin
    by asking for his life with a curse),
³¹ if the men of my tent have not said,
    ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his ^(CE)meat?’
³² (^(CF)the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
    I have opened my doors to the traveler),
³³ if I ^(CG)have concealed my transgressions ^(CH)as others do^[j]
    by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
³⁴ because I stood in great fear of ^(CI)the multitude,
    and the contempt of families terrified me,
    so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
³⁵ Oh, that I had one to hear me!
    (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty ^(CJ)answer me!)
    Oh, that I had ^(CK)the indictment written by my adversary!
³⁶ Surely I would carry it on my ^(CL)shoulder;
    I would ^(CM)bind it on me as ^(CN)a crown;
³⁷ I 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 (CO)if I have eaten its yield without payment
    and made its owners ^(CP)breathe their last,
⁴⁰ let ^(CQ)thorns grow instead of wheat,
    and foul weeds instead of barley.”

^(O)“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has ^(P)prepared ^(Q)for those who love him”—