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
Job 30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands?
All their vigor is gone.
3 Through want and hard hunger
they gnaw the dry and desolate ground;
4 they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes
and to warm themselves the roots of broom.
5 They are driven out from society;
people shout after them as after a thief.
6 In the gullies of wadis they must live,
in holes in the ground and in the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they bray;
under the nettles they huddle together.
8 A senseless, disreputable brood,
they have been whipped out of the land.
9 “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)
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.