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
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Shame of the Present
30 But those far younger than I am now laugh at me—
men whose fathers I would not have allowed
to serve with my sheepdogs.
2 The strength of their hands was useless to me.[a]
Their vigor had failed.
3 Emaciated from famine and hunger,
they gnawed desert plants in the desolate wasteland.
4 They picked marsh plants among the brush,
and their food was the roots of broom bushes.
5 They were driven out of the community.
People shouted at them like thieves.
6 They lived in dry streambeds,
in holes among the dust and the rocks.
7 They brayed between shrubs,
and they huddled under thorn bushes.
8 Sons of fools and nameless nobodies,
they were driven out of the land with whips.
9 But now I am the target of their mocking songs,
and my name has become proverbial as a term of scorn.
10 They despise me and keep their distance.
They do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 God has unhooked my bowstring,[b]
and he has afflicted me,
so they throw off all restraint in my presence.
12 At my right hand this rabble rises up like a mob.
They trip my feet.
They besiege me with their plans to destroy me.
13 They cut off my path to escape.
They try to benefit from my destruction.
They need no one to help them.
14 They pour through the breach in my wall.
They roll in through the ruins.
15 Terrors are unleashed against me.
My prestige is blown away by the wind.
My security has passed by like a cloud.
16 Now my soul is being poured out within me.
Days of suffering have seized me.
17 Night pierces my bones with pain.
The pain gnawing at me never stops.
18 God tugs violently at my clothing.
He chokes me like the collar of my robe.
19 He has thrown me into the mud,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you for help, but you do not answer me.
Whenever I stand up, you pay no attention to me.[c]
21 You have become cruel to me.
With a strong hand you assault me.
22 You lift me up with the wind, and it carries me away.
You scatter me in the raging storm.
23 Yes, I know that you are bringing me down to death,
to the home where all the living meet.
24 Will he really stretch out his hand against a pile of ruins,
when the ruined man screams for help?[d]
25 Didn’t I weep for those who live through hard days?
Didn’t my soul grieve for the needy?
26 But when I waited for good, evil came.
When I hoped for light, darkness came.
27 My emotions[e] are boiling over.
They are never quiet.
Days of suffering confront me.
28 I walk around darkened, but not by the sun.
I stand in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals,
a companion for screeching ostriches.
30 My skin turns black and falls off,
and my bones burn with fever.
31 My lyre plays only sad songs.
My flute accompanies only the sound of weeping.
Footnotes
- Job 30:2 The pronouns their and they in verses 2 to 7 may refer either to the men in verse 1, to their fathers, or to both. The tenses, therefore, could be either past or present.
- Job 30:11 Or tent cord
- Job 30:20 The translation follows some Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions, as well as the parallelism. Other manuscripts read you direct your attention against me.
- Job 30:24 This verse is difficult.
- Job 30:27 Literally my intestines
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 Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.