Job 30
Revised Standard Version
30 “But now they make sport of me,
men who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands,
men whose vigor is gone?
3 Through want and hard hunger
they gnaw the dry and desolate ground;[a]
4 they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes,
and to warm themselves the roots of the broom.
5 They are driven out from among men;
they shout after them as after a thief.
6 In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,
in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they bray;
under the nettles they huddle together.
8 A senseless, a disreputable brood,
they have been whipped out of the land.
9 “And now I have become their song,
I am a byword to them.
10 They abhor me, they keep aloof from me;
they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.
11 Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12 On my right hand the rabble rise,
they drive me[b] forth,
they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
13 They break up my path,
they promote my calamity;
no one restrains[c] them.
14 As through[d] 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.
16 “And now my soul is poured out within me;
days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 The night racks my bones,
and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
18 With violence it seizes my garment;[e]
it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
19 God has cast me into the mire,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to thee and thou dost not answer me;
I stand, and thou dost not[f] heed me.
21 Thou hast turned cruel to me;
with the might of thy hand thou dost persecute me.
22 Thou liftest me up on the wind, thou makest me ride on it,
and thou tossest me about in the roar of the storm.
23 Yea, I know that thou wilt bring me to death,
and to the house appointed for all living.
24 “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
and in his disaster cry for help?[g]
25 Did not I weep for him whose day was hard?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 But when I looked for good, evil came;
and when I waited for light, darkness came.
27 My heart is in turmoil, and is never still;
days of affliction come to meet me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
29 I am a brother of jackals,
and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin turns black and falls from me,
and my bones burn with heat.
31 My lyre is turned to mourning,
and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.
Job 30
American Standard Version
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.
2 Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me?
Men in whom [a]ripe age is perished.
3 They are gaunt with want and famine;
[b]They gnaw the dry ground, [c]in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.
4 They pluck salt-wort by the bushes;
And the roots of the broom are [d]their food.
5 They are driven forth from the midst of men;
They cry after them as after a thief;
6 So that they dwell in frightful valleys,
In holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they bray;
Under the [e]nettles they [f]are gathered together.
8 They are children of fools, yea, children of [g]base men;
They [h]were scourged out of the land.
9 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
- Job 30:2 Or, vigor
- Job 30:3 Or, They flee into the wilderness, into etc.
- Job 30:3 Or, which yesternight was. Or, on the eve of
- Job 30:4 Or, to warm them
- Job 30:7 Or, wild vetches
- Job 30:7 Or, stretch themselves
- Job 30:8 Hebrew men of no name.
- Job 30:8 Or, are outcasts from the land
- Job 30:10 Or, at the sight of me
- Job 30:11 According to another reading, my cord (or, bowstring).
- Job 30:12 Or, brood
- Job 30:13 Or, break up
- Job 30:14 Or, As a wide breaking in of waters
- Job 30:15 Or, Thou chasest
- Job 30:15 Or, my nobility
- Job 30:16 Hebrew upon.
- Job 30:17 Or, corroded and drop away from me
- Job 30:17 Hebrew from off.
- Job 30:17 Or, my sinews take etc.
- Job 30:23 Or, the house of meeting for etc.
- Job 30:28 Or, blackened, but not by the sun
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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