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30 “But now those younger than I (A)laugh at me,
Whose fathers I rejected even to put with the dogs of my flock.
Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
Vigor had perished from them.
From want and famine they are gaunt,
Who gnaw the dry ground by night in destruction and desolation,
Who pluck [a]mallow by the bushes,
And whose food is the root of the broom tree.
They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,
So that they dwell in the slopes of the [b]valleys,
In holes of the dust and of the rocks.
Among the bushes they [c]cry out;
Under the nettles they are gathered together.
[d]Wicked fools, even [e]those without a name,
They were scourged from the land.

“And now I have become their mocking (B)song;
I have even become a (C)taunting word to them.
10 They abhor me and keep a distance from me,
And they do not [f]hold back from (D)spitting at my face.
11 Because [g]He has loosed [h]His [i]bowstring and (E)afflicted me,
They have thrust aside (F)their bridle before me.
12 On the right hand their [j]brood arises;
They (G)thrust aside my feet (H)and build up against me their ways to disaster.
13 They (I)break up my path;
They profit [k]from my destruction;
They have no helper.
14 As through a wide breach they come,
[l]Amid the storm they roll on.
15 (J)Terrors are turned against me;
They pursue my nobility as the wind,
And my hope for salvation has passed away (K)like a cloud.

16 “And now (L)my soul is poured out [m]within me;
Days of affliction have seized me.
17 At night it pierces (M)my bones [n]within me,
And my gnawing pains take no rest.
18 By a great force my garment is (N)distorted;
It seizes me about as the collar of my tunic.
19 He has cast 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 carefully consider how to be against me.
21 You have [o]become cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You (Q)hunted me down.
22 You (R)lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride;
And You melt me away 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 not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
Or, in his upheaval, is there a (U)cry for help because of them?
25 Have I not (V)wept for the [p]one whose life is hard?
Was not my soul grieved for (W)the needy?
26 When I (X)hoped for good, then evil came;
When I waited for light, (Y)then thick darkness came.
27 [q]I am boiling (Z)within and cannot be silent;
Days of affliction confront me.
28 I go about (AA)darkened but not by the sun;
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

  1. Job 30:4 Plant of the salt marshes
  2. Job 30:6 Or wadis
  3. Job 30:7 Or bray
  4. Job 30:8 Lit Sons of fools
  5. Job 30:8 Lit sons
  6. Job 30:10 Lit withhold spit from my face
  7. Job 30:11 Or they
  8. Job 30:11 Some mss my
  9. Job 30:11 Or cord
  10. Job 30:12 Possibly sprout, offspring
  11. Job 30:13 Lit for
  12. Job 30:14 Lit Under
  13. Job 30:16 Lit upon
  14. Job 30:17 Lit from upon
  15. Job 30:21 Lit turned to be
  16. Job 30:25 Lit hard of day
  17. Job 30:27 Lit My inward parts are boiling
  18. Job 30:30 Lit from upon
  19. Job 30:30 Lit heat
  20. Job 30:31 Lit becomes

30 “But now they make sport of me,
    those who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to set with the dogs of my flock.(A)
What could I gain from the strength of their hands?
    All their vigor is gone.
Through want and hard hunger
    they gnaw the dry and desolate ground;
they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes
    and to warm themselves the roots of broom.
They are driven out from society;
    people shout after them as after a thief.
In the gullies of wadis they must live,
    in holes in the ground and in the rocks.
Among the bushes they bray;
    under the nettles they huddle together.
A senseless, disreputable brood,
    they have been whipped out of the land.

“And now they mock me in song;
    I am a byword to them.(B)
10 They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
    they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.(C)
11 Because God has loosed my bowstring and humbled me,
    they have cast off restraint in my presence.(D)
12 On my right hand the rabble rise up;
    they send me sprawling
    and build roads for my ruin.(E)
13 They break up my path;
    they promote my calamity;
    no one restrains[a] them.
14 As through a wide breach they come;
    amid the crash they roll on.
15 Terrors are turned upon me;
    my honor is pursued as by the wind,
    and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.(F)

16 “And now my soul is poured out within me;
    days of affliction have taken hold of me.(G)
17 The night racks my bones,
    and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
18 With violence he seizes my garment;[b]
    he grasps me by[c] the collar of my tunic.
19 He has cast me into the mire,
    and I have become like dust and ashes.(H)
20 I cry to you, and you do not answer me;
    I stand, and you merely look at me.(I)
21 You have turned cruel to me;
    with the might of your hand you persecute me.(J)
22 You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it,
    and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.(K)
23 I know that you will bring me to death,
    to the house appointed for all living.(L)

24 “Surely one does not turn against the needy,[d]
    when in disaster they cry for help.[e](M)
25 Did I not weep for those whose day was hard?
    Was not my soul grieved for the poor?(N)
26 But when I looked for good, evil came,
    and when I waited for light, darkness came.(O)
27 My inward parts are in turmoil and are never still;
    days of affliction come to meet me.
28 I go about in sunless gloom;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.(P)
29 I am a brother of jackals
    and a companion of ostriches.(Q)
30 My skin turns black and falls from me,
    and my bones burn with heat.(R)
31 My lyre is turned to mourning
    and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.(S)

Footnotes

  1. 30.13 Cn: Heb helps
  2. 30.18 Gk: Heb my garment is disfigured
  3. 30.18 Heb like
  4. 30.24 Heb ruin
  5. 30.24 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain