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Job 30
Evangelical Heritage Version
Job 30
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Shame of the Present
30 But those far younger than I am now laugh at me—
men whose fathers I would not have allowed
to serve with my sheepdogs.
2 The strength of their hands was useless to me.[a]
Their vigor had failed.
3 Emaciated from famine and hunger,
they gnawed desert plants in the desolate wasteland.
4 They picked marsh plants among the brush,
and their food was the roots of broom bushes.
5 They were driven out of the community.
People shouted at them like thieves.
6 They lived in dry streambeds,
in holes among the dust and the rocks.
7 They brayed between shrubs,
and they huddled under thorn bushes.
8 Sons of fools and nameless nobodies,
they were driven out of the land with whips.
9 But now I am the target of their mocking songs,
and my name has become proverbial as a term of scorn.
10 They despise me and keep their distance.
They do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 God has unhooked my bowstring,[b]
and he has afflicted me,
so they throw off all restraint in my presence.
12 At my right hand this rabble rises up like a mob.
They trip my feet.
They besiege me with their plans to destroy me.
13 They cut off my path to escape.
They try to benefit from my destruction.
They need no one to help them.
14 They pour through the breach in my wall.
They roll in through the ruins.
15 Terrors are unleashed against me.
My prestige is blown away by the wind.
My security has passed by like a cloud.
16 Now my soul is being poured out within me.
Days of suffering have seized me.
17 Night pierces my bones with pain.
The pain gnawing at me never stops.
18 God tugs violently at my clothing.
He chokes me like the collar of my robe.
19 He has thrown me into the mud,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you for help, but you do not answer me.
Whenever I stand up, you pay no attention to me.[c]
21 You have become cruel to me.
With a strong hand you assault me.
22 You lift me up with the wind, and it carries me away.
You scatter me in the raging storm.
23 Yes, I know that you are bringing me down to death,
to the home where all the living meet.
24 Will he really stretch out his hand against a pile of ruins,
when the ruined man screams for help?[d]
25 Didn’t I weep for those who live through hard days?
Didn’t my soul grieve for the needy?
26 But when I waited for good, evil came.
When I hoped for light, darkness came.
27 My emotions[e] are boiling over.
They are never quiet.
Days of suffering confront me.
28 I walk around darkened, but not by the sun.
I stand in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals,
a companion for screeching ostriches.
30 My skin turns black and falls off,
and my bones burn with fever.
31 My lyre plays only sad songs.
My flute accompanies only the sound of weeping.
Footnotes
- Job 30:2 The pronouns their and they in verses 2 to 7 may refer either to the men in verse 1, to their fathers, or to both. The tenses, therefore, could be either past or present.
- Job 30:11 Or tent cord
- Job 30:20 The translation follows some Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions, as well as the parallelism. Other manuscripts read you direct your attention against me.
- Job 30:24 This verse is difficult.
- Job 30:27 Literally my intestines
Job 30
New International Version
Job 30
New International Version
30 “But now they mock me,(A)
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.(B)
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[a] the parched land(C)
in desolate wastelands(D) at night.(E)
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,(F)
and their food[b] was the root of the broom bush.(G)
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.(H)
7 They brayed(I) among the bushes(J)
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood,(K)
they were driven out of the land.(L)
9 “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.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.