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Job 29-30
American Standard Version
Job 29-30
American Standard Version
29 And Job again took up his parable, and said,
2 Oh that I were as in the months of old,
As in the days when God watched over me;
3 When his lamp shined [a]upon my head,
And by his light I walked through darkness;
4 As I was in [b]the ripeness of my days,
When the [c]friendship of God was upon my tent;
5 When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were about me;
6 When my steps were washed with butter,
And the rock poured me out streams of oil!
7 When I went forth to the gate unto the city,
When I prepared my seat in the [d]street,
8 The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the aged rose up and stood;
9 The princes refrained from talking,
And laid their hand on their mouth;
10 The voice of the nobles was [e]hushed,
And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
11 For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me;
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me:
12 Because I delivered the poor that cried,
The fatherless also, [f]that had none to help him.
13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;
And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it [g]clothed me:
My justice was as a robe and a [h]diadem.
15 I was eyes to the blind,
And feet was I to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy:
And [i]the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.
17 And I brake the [j]jaws of the unrighteous,
And plucked the prey out of his teeth.
18 Then I said, I shall die [k]in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand:
19 My root is [l]spread out [m]to the waters,
And the dew lieth all night upon my branch:
20 My glory is fresh in me,
And my bow is renewed in my hand.
21 Unto me men gave ear, and waited,
And kept silence for my counsel.
22 After my words they spake not again;
And my speech distilled upon them.
23 And they waited for me as for the rain;
And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
24 I smiled on them, when they had no confidence;
And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
25 I chose out their way, and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king in the army,
As one that comforteth the mourners.
30 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision,
Whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me?
Men in whom [n]ripe age is perished.
3 They are gaunt with want and famine;
[o]They gnaw the dry ground, [p]in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.
4 They pluck salt-wort by the bushes;
And the roots of the broom are [q]their food.
5 They are driven forth from the midst of men;
They cry after them as after a thief;
6 So that they dwell in frightful valleys,
In holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they bray;
Under the [r]nettles they [s]are gathered together.
8 They are children of fools, yea, children of [t]base men;
They [u]were scourged out of the land.
9 And now I am become their song,
Yea, I am a byword unto them.
10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me,
And spare not to spit [v]in my face.
11 For he hath loosed [w]his cord, and afflicted me;
And they have cast off the bridle before me.
12 Upon my right hand rise the [x]rabble;
They thrust aside my feet,
And they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
13 They [y]mar my path,
They set forward my calamity,
Even men that have no helper.
14 [z]As through a wide breach they come:
In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.
15 Terrors are turned upon me;
[aa]They chase [ab]mine honor as the wind;
And my welfare is passed away as a cloud.
16 And now my soul is poured out [ac]within me;
Days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 In the night season my bones are [ad]pierced [ae]in me,
And [af]the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
18 By God’s great force is my garment disfigured;
It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He hath cast me into the mire,
And I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me:
I stand up, and thou gazest at me.
21 Thou art turned to be cruel to me;
With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.
22 Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it;
And thou dissolvest me in the storm.
23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death,
And to [ag]the house appointed for all living.
24 Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall?
Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
26 When I looked for good, then evil came;
And when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My heart is troubled, and resteth not;
Days of affliction are come upon me.
28 I go [ah]mourning without the sun:
I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
29 I am a brother to jackals,
And a companion to ostriches.
30 My skin is black, and falleth from me,
And my bones are burned with heat.
31 Therefore is my harp turned to mourning,
And my pipe into the voice of them that weep.
Footnotes
- Job 29:3 Or, above
- Job 29:4 Hebrew my days of autumn.
- Job 29:4 Or, counsel
- Job 29:7 Or, broad place
- Job 29:10 Hebrew hid.
- Job 29:12 Or, and him that had etc.
- Job 29:14 Or, clothed itself with me
- Job 29:14 Or, turban
- Job 29:16 Or, the cause which I knew not
- Job 29:17 Hebrew great teeth.
- Job 29:18 Or, beside. Hebrew with.
- Job 29:19 Hebrew opened.
- Job 29:19 Or, by
- Job 30:2 Or, vigor
- Job 30:3 Or, They flee into the wilderness, into etc.
- Job 30:3 Or, which yesternight was. Or, on the eve of
- Job 30:4 Or, to warm them
- Job 30:7 Or, wild vetches
- Job 30:7 Or, stretch themselves
- Job 30:8 Hebrew men of no name.
- Job 30:8 Or, are outcasts from the land
- Job 30:10 Or, at the sight of me
- Job 30:11 According to another reading, my cord (or, bowstring).
- Job 30:12 Or, brood
- Job 30:13 Or, break up
- Job 30:14 Or, As a wide breaking in of waters
- Job 30:15 Or, Thou chasest
- Job 30:15 Or, my nobility
- Job 30:16 Hebrew upon.
- Job 30:17 Or, corroded and drop away from me
- Job 30:17 Hebrew from off.
- Job 30:17 Or, my sinews take etc.
- Job 30:23 Or, the house of meeting for etc.
- Job 30:28 Or, blackened, but not by the sun
Job 29-30
New International Version
Job 29-30
New International Version
Job’s Final Defense
29 Job continued his discourse:(A)
2 “How I long for the months gone by,(B)
for the days when God watched over me,(C)
3 when his lamp shone on my head
and by his light I walked through darkness!(D)
4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
when God’s intimate friendship(E) blessed my house,(F)
5 when the Almighty was still with me
and my children(G) were around me,(H)
6 when my path was drenched with cream(I)
and the rock(J) poured out for me streams of olive oil.(K)
7 “When I went to the gate(L) of the city
and took my seat in the public square,
8 the young men saw me and stepped aside(M)
and the old men rose to their feet;(N)
9 the chief men refrained from speaking(O)
and covered their mouths with their hands;(P)
10 the voices of the nobles were hushed,(Q)
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.(R)
11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me commended me,(S)
12 because I rescued the poor(T) who cried for help,
and the fatherless(U) who had none to assist them.(V)
13 The one who was dying blessed me;(W)
I made the widow’s(X) heart sing.
14 I put on righteousness(Y) as my clothing;
justice was my robe and my turban.(Z)
15 I was eyes(AA) to the blind
and feet to the lame.(AB)
16 I was a father to the needy;(AC)
I took up the case(AD) of the stranger.(AE)
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked
and snatched the victims(AF) from their teeth.(AG)
18 “I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.(AH)
19 My roots will reach to the water,(AI)
and the dew will lie all night on my branches.(AJ)
20 My glory will not fade;(AK)
the bow(AL) will be ever new in my hand.’(AM)
21 “People listened to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my counsel.(AN)
22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;(AO)
my words fell gently on their ears.(AP)
23 They waited for me as for showers
and drank in my words as the spring rain.(AQ)
24 When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
the light of my face(AR) was precious to them.[a](AS)
25 I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;(AT)
I dwelt as a king(AU) among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.(AV)
30 “But now they mock me,(AW)
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.(AX)
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?
3 Haggard from want and hunger,
they roamed[b] the parched land(AY)
in desolate wastelands(AZ) at night.(BA)
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,(BB)
and their food[c] was the root of the broom bush.(BC)
5 They were banished from human society,
shouted at as if they were thieves.
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.(BD)
7 They brayed(BE) among the bushes(BF)
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood,(BG)
they were driven out of the land.(BH)
9 “And now those young men mock me(BI) in song;(BJ)
I have become a byword(BK) among them.
10 They detest me(BL) and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.(BM)
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow(BN) and afflicted me,(BO)
they throw off restraint(BP) in my presence.
12 On my right(BQ) the tribe[d] attacks;
they lay snares(BR) for my feet,(BS)
they build their siege ramps against me.(BT)
13 They break up my road;(BU)
they succeed in destroying me.(BV)
‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;(BW)
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Terrors(BX) overwhelm me;(BY)
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.(BZ)
16 “And now my life ebbs away;(CA)
days of suffering grip me.(CB)
17 Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.(CC)
18 In his great power(CD) God becomes like clothing to me[e];
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud,(CE)
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.(CF)
20 “I cry out to you,(CG) God, but you do not answer;(CH)
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;(CI)
with the might of your hand(CJ) you attack me.(CK)
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;(CL)
you toss me about in the storm.(CM)
23 I know you will bring me down to death,(CN)
to the place appointed for all the living.(CO)
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man(CP)
when he cries for help in his distress.(CQ)
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?(CR)
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?(CS)
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.(CT)
27 The churning inside me never stops;(CU)
days of suffering confront me.(CV)
28 I go about blackened,(CW) but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.(CX)
29 I have become a brother of jackals,(CY)
a companion of owls.(CZ)
30 My skin grows black(DA) and peels;(DB)
my body burns with fever.(DC)
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,(DD)
and my pipe(DE) to the sound of wailing.
American Standard Version (ASV)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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