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
International Standard Version
Job Describes His Current Status in Life
30 “But now they mock me;
men who are far younger than I,
whose fathers I would have hated
to entrust with my own sheep dogs.
2 Furthermore, what could I have gained
from men whose strength is gone?
3 Unproductive due to poverty[a] and hunger,
they could only scratch in parched soil,
devastated and desolated.
4 “They would pluck off herbs from salt marshes to eat;
and roots of the broom shrub[b] for food.
5 Driven away from human company,
they were shouted at as though they were thieves.
6 They lived in the most dangerous of ravines,
in holes in the ground, and among rocks.
7 They bray like donkeys[c] among the bushes
and huddle together under the desert weeds.
8 Sons of fools and of uncertain reputation,[d]
they have been driven from the land by scourging.”
Job Presents the Actions of the Mockers
9 “Now, I’ve become the object of their mocking melodies;[e]
I’m nothing but a fool’s proverb to them!
10 They abhor me—they keep their distance from me;
but they don’t refrain from spitting at the sight of me.
11 But God[f] has loosened his cord and afflicted me;
so they’ve cast off all restraints in my presence.
12 “A wretched crowd ambushes me to my right;
they trip my feet;
they build up their path of calamity for me.
13 They tear up my pathways;
they profit from my destruction,
and they need no help to do this!
14 They come like those who breach through a wall;
as everything crashes around me they’ll roll on and on!
15 My greatest fears have overcome me;
my honor is assaulted as though by a wind storm;
my prosperity evaporates like a morning cloud.”
Job Accuses God of Mistreating Him
16 “Now, my soul pours itself out;
the time of my affliction has taken control of me.
17 The night racks my bones;
and the pain that gnaws on me will not rest.
18 My clothes are disheveled by his forceful treatment of me;[g]
he restricts my movement like the collar of my cloak.
19 “He tossed me into the mire;
I’ve become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry for help to you,
but you won’t answer me;
I stand still,
but you only look at me.
21 You changed toward me, and now you’re cruel to me;
with your mighty hand you are persecuting me;
22 you carried me off in a wind storm,
making me ride on it
while you toss me about as the storm roars around me.
23 I know that you’re about to kill me,
so I’m about to go to the house that’s appointed for all the living.”
Job Lists His Hopes Despite His Deplorable Condition
24 “Surely he won’t stretch his hand against the needy, will he,
especially if they cry to him in their calamity?
25 Haven’t I wept for the one who is going through hard times?
Haven’t I grieved for the needy?
26 I have hoped for good, but evil came instead;
I have hoped for light, but darkness came.
27 I’m boiling mad inside, and I won’t remain silent;
the time for my affliction to confront me has arrived.
28 “In growing darkness, I walked without sunlight;
I stood in the congregation to cry for help.
29 I’ve become a brother to jackals,
and a friend to ostriches.
30 My skin turns black all over me;
and my bones seem burned from the heat.
31 But my harp is in mourning;
my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping.”
Footnotes
- Job 30:3 Or want
- Job 30:4 I.e. a desert bush native to Israel whose bitter roots could be harvested by the destitute and eaten when food was scarce
- Job 30:7 The Heb. lacks like donkeys
- Job 30:8 Or and without a name
- Job 30:9 Lit. their neginnoth; i.e. derogatory songs composed to mock Job
- Job 30:11 Lit. he
- Job 30:18 The Heb. lacks of me
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