哀叹今日的痛苦

30 “但如今,比我年少的人竟嘲笑我,
他们的父亲曾被我鄙视,
连我的牧羊犬都不如。
他们精力衰竭,
对我有何益处?
他们贫穷饥饿,瘦弱不堪,
夜间在干旱荒凉之地啃食。
他们在草丛中拔咸草充饥,
以罗腾树根为食。
他们被赶离人群,
像贼一样被喝斥。
他们只好住在荒谷,
在地洞和岩穴栖身;
在杂草间嚎叫如兽,
在树丛中蜷缩一团。
他们是愚昧无名之辈,
被人用鞭子赶出境外。

“如今,他们竟唱歌讽刺我,
我成了他们的笑柄。
10 他们厌恶我,不愿靠近我,
任意朝我脸上吐唾沫。
11 因为上帝苦待我,使我毫无力量,
他们才在我面前肆无忌惮。
12 这些无赖从右边攻击我,
迫使我逃亡,
他们展开攻势要毁灭我。
13 他们截断我的路,
想方设法害我,无人相助。
14 他们冲破防线,
从废墟中向我袭来。
15 恐惧笼罩着我,
我的尊荣随风而去,
我的荣华如云消散。

16 “如今我的生命将尽,
痛苦的日子抓住我。
17 夜间我的骨头刺痛,
如被啃噬,无休无止。
18 上帝猛力抓住我的衣服,
紧紧地揪住我的衣领。
19 祂把我扔进淤泥,
使我如尘埃灰烬。

20 “上帝啊!我向你呼求,你不回应;
我站起来,你也不理睬。
21 你变得对我残酷无情,
用你大能的手迫害我,
22 把我提到风中,让我被风吹走,
被暴风抛来抛去。
23 我知道你要带我去死亡之地,
那是你为众生所定的归宿。

24 “诚然,不幸的人在困境中呼救,
无人会伸手加害他。
25 难道我不曾为受苦的人哭泣,
我的心不曾为穷困者悲伤吗?
26 我盼望幸福,来的却是灾祸;
我期待光明,来的却是黑暗。
27 我心里一直烦乱不安,
苦难的日子迎面袭来。
28 我皮肤发黑,不是因为日晒,
我在会众中站起来呼救。
29 我成了豺狼的兄弟,
驼鸟的伙伴。
30 我的皮肤发黑、脱落,
我的骨头如被烤焦。
31 我的琴唱出哀乐,
我的箫奏出悲鸣。

Job’s Present State Is Humiliating

30 “But now those younger than I mock and laugh at me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the sheepdogs of my flock.

“Indeed, how could the strength of their hands profit me?
Vigor had perished from them.

“They are gaunt with want and famine;
They gnaw the dry and barren ground by night in [the gloom of] waste and desolation.

“They pluck [and eat] [a]saltwort (mallows) among the bushes,
And their food is the root of the broom shrub.

“They are driven from the community;
They shout after them as after a thief.

“They must dwell on the slopes of [b]wadis
And in holes in the ground and in rocks.

“Among the bushes they cry out [like wild animals];
Beneath the prickly scrub they gather and huddle together.

They are the sons of [worthless and nameless] fools,
They have been driven out of the land.


“And now I have become [the subject of] their taunting;
Yes, I am a [c]byword and a laughingstock to them.
10 
“They hate me, they stand aloof from me,
And do not refrain from spitting in my face.
11 
“For God has loosed His bowstring [attacking me] and [He has] afflicted and humbled me;
They have cast off the bridle [of restraint] before me.
12 
“On my right the [rabble] brood rises;
They push my feet away, and they build up their ways of destruction against me [like an advancing army].
13 
“They break up and clutter my path [upsetting my plans],
They profit from my destruction;
No one restrains them.
14 
“As through a wide breach they come,
Amid the crash [of falling walls] they roll on [over me].
15 
“Terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my honor and reputation like the wind,
And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

16 
“And now my soul is poured out within me;
The days of affliction have seized me.
17 
“My bones are pierced [with aching] in the night season,
And the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
18 
“By the great force [of my disease] my garment (skin) is disfigured and blemished;
It binds about me [choking me] like the collar of my coat.
19 
“God has cast me into the mire [a swampland of crisis],
And I have become [worthless] like dust and ashes.
20 
“I cry to You for help, [Lord,] but You do not answer me;
I stand up, but You [only] gaze [indifferently] at me.
21 
“You have become harsh and cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You [keep me alive only to] persecute me.
22 
“You lift me up on the wind and cause me to ride [upon it];
And You toss me about in the tempest and dissolve me in the storm.
23 
“For I know that You will bring me to death
And to the house of meeting [appointed] for all the living.

24 
“However, does not one falling in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand?
Or in his disaster [will he not] therefore cry out for help?
25 
“Did I not weep for one whose life was hard and filled with trouble?
Was not my heart grieved for the needy?
26 
“When I expected good, then came evil [to me];
And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
27 
“I am seething within and my heart is troubled and cannot rest;
Days of affliction come to meet me.
28 
“I go about mourning without comfort [my skin blackened by disease, not by the heat of the sun];
I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
29 
“I am a brother to [howling] jackals,
And a companion to ostriches [which scream dismally].
30 
“My skin falls from me in blackened flakes,
And my bones are burned with fever.
31 
“Therefore my lyre (harp) is used for [the sound of] mourning,
And my flute for the [sound of the] voices of those who weep.

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:4 I.e. a plant of the salt marshes.
  2. Job 30:6 I.e. gullies or valleys made by torrents of water.
  3. Job 30:9 I.e. the object of cruel jokes.

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