Job 30
Lexham English Bible
Job’s Final Defense Continued
30 “But now those younger than I, as far as days, laugh at me,
whose fathers I rejected for setting with the dogs of my sheep and goats.
2 Moreover, what use to me is the strength of their hands?[a]
With them, vigor is destroyed.
3 Through want and through barren hunger
they are gnawing in the dry region in the darkness of desolation and waste.
4 They are picking salt herbs, the leaves of bushes,
and the roots of broom trees to warm themselves.
5 They were driven out from fellow people;
they shout at them as at a[b] thief,
6 so that they dwell[c]
in holes of the ground and in the rocks.
7 They bray among the bushes;
they are gathered under the nettles.
8 A senseless crowd,[d] yes, a disreputable brood,[e]
they were cast out from the land.
9 “But now I am their mocking song,
and I have become a byword for them.
10 They abhor me; they keep aloof from me,
and they do not withhold spit from my face
11 because he has loosened his bowstring and humbled me,
and they have thrown off restraint in my presence.[f]
12 On the right hand the brood rises[g] up;
they put me to flight,[h]
and they build up their siege ramps[i] against me.
13 They destroy my path;
they promote my destruction;
they have no helper.
14 As through a wide breach they come;
amid a crash they rush on.
15 Terrors are turned upon me;
my honor is pursued as by the wind,
and my hope of deliverance passed by like a cloud.
16 “And now my life is poured out onto me;
days of misery have taken hold of me.
17 At night I am in great pain;[j]
my pains do not take a rest.
18 He seizes my clothing with great power;[k]
he grasps me by my tunic’s collar.
19 He has cast me into the dirt,
and I have become like dust[l] and ashes.
20 I cry to you for help, but[m] you do not answer me;
I stand, and you merely look at me.
21 You have turned cruel to me;
you persecute me with your hand’s might.
22 You lift me up to the wind—you make me ride it,
and you toss me about in the storm.
23 Indeed, I know that you will bring me to death
and to the house of assembly for all the living.
24 “Surely someone must not send a hand against the needy
when, in his misfortune, there is a cry of help for them.
25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate,[n]
and grieved myself over the poor?
26 Indeed, I hoped for good, but evil came,
and I waited for light, but darkness came.
27 My bowels are in turmoil, and they are not still;
days of misery come to confront me.
28 I go about in mourning garb, but not in sunlight;
I stand up in the assembly, and I cry for help.
29 I am a companion for the jackals
and a companion for ostriches.[o]
30 My skin turns black on me,
and my bones burn with heat.
31 So[p] my lyre came to be used for mourning,
and my flute for the voice of those who weep.
Footnotes
- Job 30:2 Literally “the strength of their hands what is for me”
- Job 30:5 Hebrew “the”
- Job 30:6 Literally “to dwell”
- Job 30:8 Literally “sons of good-for-nothing”
- Job 30:8 Literally “sons of no name”
- Job 30:11 Literally “from my face”
- Job 30:12 Hebrew “rise”
- Job 30:12 Literally “my feet they send away”
- Job 30:12 Literally “the ways/paths of their disaster”
- Job 30:17 Literally “night my bones he pierces upon me,” or “night pierces my bones upon me”
- Job 30:18 Literally “much of strength”
- Job 30:19 Hebrew “the dust”
- Job 30:20 Hebrew “and”
- Job 30:25 Literally “hard of day”
- Job 30:29 Literally “daughters of ostrich”
- Job 30:31 Hebrew “And”
Job 30
Holman Christian Standard Bible
30 But now they mock(A) me,
men younger than I am,
whose fathers I would have refused to put
with my sheep dogs.
2 What use to me was the strength of their hands?
Their vigor had left them.
3 Emaciated from poverty and hunger,
they gnawed the dry land,
the desolate wasteland by night.
4 They plucked mallow[a](B) among the shrubs,
and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 They were expelled from human society;
people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
6 They are living on the slopes of the wadis,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 They bray among the shrubs;
they huddle beneath the thistles.
8 Foolish(C) men, without even a name.
They were forced to leave the land.
9 Now I am mocked by their songs;(D)
I have become an object of scorn to them.
10 They despise me and keep their distance from me;(E)
they do not hesitate to spit(F) in my face.
11 Because God has loosened my[b] bowstring and oppressed me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.(G)
12 The rabble[c] rise up at my right;
they trap[d] my feet
and construct their siege ramp[e] against me.(H)
13 They tear up my path;
they contribute to my destruction,(I)
without anyone to help them.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;
they keep rolling in through the ruins.(J)
15 Terrors(K) are turned loose against me;
they chase my dignity away like the wind,
and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.
16 Now my life is poured out before my eyes,
and days of suffering(L) have seized me.
17 Night pierces my bones,
but my gnawing pains never rest.(M)
18 My clothing is distorted with great force;
He chokes me by the neck of my garment.[f]
19 He throws me into the mud,
and I have become like dust and ashes.(N)
20 I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;(O)
when I stand up, You merely look at me.
21 You have turned against me with cruelty;
You harass(P) me with Your strong hand.
22 You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it;
You scatter me in the storm.(Q)
23 Yes, I know that You will lead me to death—
the place(R) appointed for all who live.
24 Yet no one would stretch out his hand
against a ruined man[g]
when he cries out to him for help
because of his distress.(S)
25 Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?
Has my soul not grieved for the needy?(T)
26 But when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, darkness(U) came.
27 I am churning within[h] and cannot rest;
days of suffering confront me.
28 I walk about blackened, but not by the sun.[i]
I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin blackens and flakes off,[j]
and my bones burn with fever.(V)
31 My lyre is used for mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.(W)
Footnotes
- Job 30:4 Or saltwort
- Job 30:11 Alt Hb tradition, LXX, Vg read His
- Job 30:12 Hb obscure
- Job 30:12 Lit stretch out
- Job 30:12 Lit and raise up their destructive paths
- Job 30:18 Hb obscure
- Job 30:24 Lit a heap of ruins
- Job 30:27 Lit My bowels boil
- Job 30:28 Or walk in sunless gloom
- Job 30:30 Lit blackens away from me
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