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.
Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
Vigor had perished from them.
From poverty and famine they are gaunt,
They who gnaw at the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,
Who pluck saltweed by the bushes,
And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.
They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,
So that they live on the slopes of ravines,
In holes in the ground and among the rocks.
Among the bushes they [a]cry out;
Under the weeds they are gathered together.
Worthless [b]fellows, even [c]those without a name,
They were cast out from the land.

“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

  1. Job 30:7 Or bray
  2. Job 30:8 Lit sons
  3. Job 30:8 Lit sons
  4. Job 30:9 Lit song
  5. Job 30:9 I.e., prob. a word of insult
  6. Job 30:10 Lit withhold spit from my face
  7. Job 30:11 Some mss His
  8. Job 30:11 Or cord
  9. Job 30:12 Or youth arise
  10. Job 30:14 Lit Under
  11. Job 30:15 Or welfare
  12. Job 30:16 Lit upon
  13. Job 30:17 Lit from upon
  14. Job 30:21 Lit turned to be
  15. Job 30:25 Lit hard of day
  16. Job 30:27 Lit My inward parts are boiling
  17. Job 30:28 Or blackened, but not by the heat of the sun
  18. Job 30:30 Lit from upon
  19. Job 30:30 Lit heat
  20. Job 30:31 Lit becomes

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.

16 And now my soul is poured out [p]within me;
Days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 In the night season my bones are [q]pierced [r]in me,
And [s]the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
18 By God’s great force is my garment disfigured;
It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He hath cast me into the mire,
And I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me:
I stand up, and thou gazest at me.
21 Thou art turned to be cruel to me;
With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.
22 Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it;
And thou dissolvest me in the storm.
23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death,
And to [t]the house appointed for all living.

24 Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall?
Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
26 When I looked for good, then evil came;
And when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My heart is troubled, and resteth not;
Days of affliction are come upon me.
28 I go [u]mourning without the sun:
I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
29 I am a brother to jackals,
And a companion to ostriches.
30 My skin is black, and falleth from me,
And my bones are burned with heat.
31 Therefore is my harp turned to mourning,
And my pipe into the voice of them that weep.

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
  16. Job 30:16 Hebrew upon.
  17. Job 30:17 Or, corroded and drop away from me
  18. Job 30:17 Hebrew from off.
  19. Job 30:17 Or, my sinews take etc.
  20. Job 30:23 Or, the house of meeting for etc.
  21. Job 30:28 Or, blackened, but not by the sun