Add parallel Print Page Options

30 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision,
whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me,
in whom old age was perished?
For want and famine they were solitary;
fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
Who cut up mallows by the bushes,
and juniper roots for their meat.
They were driven forth from among men,
(they cried after them as after a thief;)
to dwell in the clifts of the valleys,
in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
Among the bushes they brayed;
under the nettles they were gathered together.
They were children of fools, yea, children of base men:
they were viler than the earth.

And now am I their song,
yea, I am their byword.
10 They abhor me, they flee far from me,
and spare not to spit in my face.
11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me,
they have also let loose the bridle before me.
12 Upon my right hand rise the youth;
they push away my feet,
and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
13 They mar my path,
they set forward my calamity,
they have no helper.
14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters:
in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

15 Terrors are turned upon me:
they pursue my soul as the wind:
and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

Read full chapter

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.
Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me?
Men in whom [a]ripe age is perished.
They are gaunt with want and famine;
[b]They gnaw the dry ground, [c]in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.
They pluck salt-wort by the bushes;
And the roots of the broom are [d]their food.
They are driven forth from the midst of men;
They cry after them as after a thief;
So that they dwell in frightful valleys,
In holes of the earth and of the rocks.
Among the bushes they bray;
Under the [e]nettles they [f]are gathered together.
They are children of fools, yea, children of [g]base men;
They [h]were scourged out of the land.

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 [i]in my face.
11 For he hath loosed [j]his cord, and afflicted me;
And they have cast off the bridle before me.
12 Upon my right hand rise the [k]rabble;
They thrust aside my feet,
And they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
13 They [l]mar my path,
They set forward my calamity,
Even men that have no helper.
14 [m]As through a wide breach they come:
In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.
15 Terrors are turned upon me;
[n]They chase [o]mine honor as the wind;
And my welfare is passed away as a cloud.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:2 Or, vigor
  2. Job 30:3 Or, They flee into the wilderness, into etc.
  3. Job 30:3 Or, which yesternight was. Or, on the eve of
  4. Job 30:4 Or, to warm them
  5. Job 30:7 Or, wild vetches
  6. Job 30:7 Or, stretch themselves
  7. Job 30:8 Hebrew men of no name.
  8. Job 30:8 Or, are outcasts from the land
  9. Job 30:10 Or, at the sight of me
  10. Job 30:11 According to another reading, my cord (or, bowstring).
  11. Job 30:12 Or, brood
  12. Job 30:13 Or, break up
  13. Job 30:14 Or, As a wide breaking in of waters
  14. Job 30:15 Or, Thou chasest
  15. Job 30:15 Or, my nobility

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)

Read full chapter

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.