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)
Job 30
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 banished 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 me,
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 person[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)
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.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.