Job 30
Amplified Bible
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.
2
“Indeed, how could the strength of their hands profit me?
Vigor had perished from them.
3
“They are gaunt with want and famine;
They gnaw the dry and barren ground by night in [the gloom of] waste and desolation.
4
“They pluck [and eat] [a]saltwort (mallows) among the bushes,
And their food is the root of the broom shrub.
5
“They are driven from the community;
They shout after them as after a thief.
6
“They must dwell on the slopes of [b]wadis
And in holes in the ground and in rocks.
7
“Among the bushes they cry out [like wild animals];
Beneath the prickly scrub they gather and huddle together.
8
“They are the sons of [worthless and nameless] fools,
They have been driven out of the land.
9
“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.
Job 30
New American Standard Bible
Job’s Present State Is Humiliating
30 “But now those who are younger than I (A)mock me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the dogs of my flock.
2 Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
Vigor had perished from them.
3 From poverty and famine they are gaunt,
They who gnaw at the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,
4 Who pluck saltweed by the bushes,
And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.
5 They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,
6 So that they live on the slopes of ravines,
In holes in the ground and among the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they [a]cry out;
Under the weeds they are gathered together.
8 Worthless [b]fellows, even [c]those without a name,
They were cast out from the land.
9 “And now I have become their [d](B)taunt,
And I have become a [e](C)byword to them.
10 They loathe me and stand aloof from me,
And they do not [f]refrain from (D)spitting in my face.
11 Because He has undone [g]my [h]bowstring and (E)afflicted me,
They have cast off (F)the bridle before me.
12 On the right hand their [i]mob arises;
They (G)push aside my feet (H)and pile up their ways of destruction against me.
13 They (I)break up my path,
They promote my destruction;
No one restrains them.
14 As through a wide gap they come,
[j]Amid the storm they roll on.
15 (J)Sudden terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my dignity like the wind,
And my [k]prosperity has passed away (K)like a cloud.
16 “And now (L)my soul is poured out [l]within me;
Days of misery have seized me.
17 At night it pierces (M)my bones [m]within me,
And my gnawing pains do not rest.
18 By a great force my garment is (N)distorted;
It ties me up like the collar of my coat.
19 He has thrown me into the (O)mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I (P)cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.
21 You have [n]become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You (Q)persecute me.
22 You (R)lift me up to the wind and make me ride it;
And You dissolve me in a storm.
23 For I know that You (S)will bring me to death,
And to the (T)house of meeting for all living.
24 “Yet does one in a heap of ruins not reach out with his hand,
Or in his disaster does he not (U)cry out for help?
25 Have I not (V)wept for the [o]one whose life is hard?
Was my soul not grieved for (W)the needy?
26 When I (X)expected good, evil came;
When I waited for light, (Y)darkness came.
27 [p]I am seething (Z)within and cannot rest;
Days of misery confront me.
28 I go about [q](AA)mourning without comfort;
I stand up in the assembly and (AB)cry out for help.
29 I have become a brother to (AC)jackals,
And a companion of ostriches.
30 My (AD)skin turns black [r]on me,
And my (AE)bones burn with [s]fever.
31 Therefore my (AF)harp [t]is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep.
Footnotes
- Job 30:7 Or bray
- Job 30:8 Lit sons
- Job 30:8 Lit sons
- Job 30:9 Lit song
- Job 30:9 I.e., prob. a word of insult
- Job 30:10 Lit withhold spit from my face
- Job 30:11 Some mss His
- Job 30:11 Or cord
- Job 30:12 Or youth arise
- Job 30:14 Lit Under
- Job 30:15 Or welfare
- Job 30:16 Lit upon
- Job 30:17 Lit from upon
- Job 30:21 Lit turned to be
- Job 30:25 Lit hard of day
- Job 30:27 Lit My inward parts are boiling
- Job 30:28 Or blackened, but not by the heat of the sun
- Job 30:30 Lit from upon
- Job 30:30 Lit heat
- Job 30:31 Lit becomes
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.