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Chapter 30

Now I Am the Laughingstock

“But now I am the laughingstock
    of people who are younger than I,
people whose fathers I would not have considered fit
    to put with the dogs guarding my flock.
Of what use to me was the strength of their hands?
    Their vigor had completely wasted away.
“Enfeebled by want and hunger,
    they gnawed roots in the wilderness,
    a gloomy place of dry and desolate ground.
They plucked saltwort and scrub for food,
    and they ate the roots of the broom tree.[a]
Cast out from human society
    and berated as thieves and pursued,
they were forced to live on the sides of ravines,
    in holes in the ground, and in clefts of rock.
Among the bushes you could hear them braying,
    huddled together under the nettles.
They are a vile and irresponsible brood,
    driven as outcasts from society.
“And these are the ones who speak mockingly about me;
    my name is a byword among them.
10 They abhor me and keep their distance from me;
    they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 And since God has loosened my bowspring[b] and humbled me,
    they have ceased to have any restraint in my presence.
12 “The rabble attack in a mob on my right flank;
    they lay snares for my feet
    and raise their siege-ramps against me.
13 They advance through my crumbling defenses,
    blocking every means of escape,
    and no one restrains them.
14 They burst forward through a gaping breach
    and advance in waves.
15 Terrors surround me on all sides;
    my confidence disintegrates,
    and my hope of deliverance vanishes like a cloud.

God’s Severity[c]

16 “And now my life has begun to ebb away;
    my days are filled with grief and affliction.
17 During the night pain wracks my bones,
    and I suffer from ceaseless throbbing that allows me no respite.
18 God seizes my garment violently,
    grasping me by the collar of my tunic.
19 He has cast me into the mire,
    and I am covered with dust and ashes.
20 “I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer me;
    I stand before you, but you barely take notice.
21 You have turned with severity against me;
    with your strong hand you persecute me.
22 You lift me up and place me at the mercy of the wind,
    allowing me to be tossed about in the storm.
23 I know indeed that you will hand me over to death
    and to the place appointed for every living mortal.

Yet I Cannot Discover Why

24 “And yet should you not extend a hand
    to someone who pleads with you for help?
25 Did I not shed tears over the plight of the unfortunate?
    Was not my soul grieved for the destitute?
26 Yet when I hoped for good, only evil came;
    when I looked for light, there was only darkness.
27 My inward parts are in constant pain,
    and days of affliction torment me.
28 “I walk about dejected and without comfort;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother to the jackal
    and a companion to the ostrich.
30 My skin has turned black and peels off my body,
    and my bones are scorched by heat.
31 My harp has been tuned to dirges,
    and my flute to the sounds of weeping.

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:4 The foods mentioned here (saltwort, scrub, and roots of the broom tree) were the fare of those in extreme poverty.
  2. Job 30:11 Loosened my bowspring: i.e., done away with my strength.
  3. Job 30:16 Little by little Job comes back to his essential distress: the fierce hostility of a God who pursues him relentlessly. His faith survives but in a greatly wounded state.

哀叹今日的痛苦

30 “但如今,比我年少的人竟嘲笑我,
他们的父亲曾被我鄙视,
连我的牧羊犬都不如。
他们精力衰竭,
对我有何益处?
他们贫穷饥饿,瘦弱不堪,
夜间在干旱荒凉之地啃食。
他们在草丛中拔咸草充饥,
以罗腾树根为食。
他们被赶离人群,
像贼一样被喝斥。
他们只好住在荒谷,
在地洞和岩穴栖身;
在杂草间嚎叫如兽,
在树丛中蜷缩一团。
他们是愚昧无名之辈,
被人用鞭子赶出境外。

“如今,他们竟唱歌讽刺我,
我成了他们的笑柄。
10 他们厌恶我,不愿靠近我,
任意朝我脸上吐唾沫。
11 因为上帝苦待我,使我毫无力量,
他们才在我面前肆无忌惮。
12 这些无赖从右边攻击我,
迫使我逃亡,
他们展开攻势要毁灭我。
13 他们截断我的路,
想方设法害我,无人相助。
14 他们冲破防线,
从废墟中向我袭来。
15 恐惧笼罩着我,
我的尊荣随风而去,
我的荣华如云消散。

16 “如今我的生命将尽,
痛苦的日子抓住我。
17 夜间我的骨头刺痛,
如被啃噬,无休无止。
18 上帝猛力抓住我的衣服,
紧紧地揪住我的衣领。
19 祂把我扔进淤泥,
使我如尘埃灰烬。

20 “上帝啊!我向你呼求,你不回应;
我站起来,你也不理睬。
21 你变得对我残酷无情,
用你大能的手迫害我,
22 把我提到风中,让我被风吹走,
被暴风抛来抛去。
23 我知道你要带我去死亡之地,
那是你为众生所定的归宿。

24 “诚然,不幸的人在困境中呼救,
无人会伸手加害他。
25 难道我不曾为受苦的人哭泣,
我的心不曾为穷困者悲伤吗?
26 我盼望幸福,来的却是灾祸;
我期待光明,来的却是黑暗。
27 我心里一直烦乱不安,
苦难的日子迎面袭来。
28 我皮肤发黑,不是因为日晒,
我在会众中站起来呼救。
29 我成了豺狼的兄弟,
驼鸟的伙伴。
30 我的皮肤发黑、脱落,
我的骨头如被烤焦。
31 我的琴唱出哀乐,
我的箫奏出悲鸣。

30 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)

To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.

Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.

10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.

11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.

12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.

14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

16 And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: 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 hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

21 Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.

22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.

23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

24 Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.

25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.

29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

30 “But now they mock me,(A)
    men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to put with my sheep dogs.(B)
Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
    since their vigor had gone from them?
Haggard from want and hunger,
    they roamed[a] the parched land(C)
    in desolate wastelands(D) at night.(E)
In the brush they gathered salt herbs,(F)
    and their food[b] was the root of the broom bush.(G)
They were banished from human society,
    shouted at as if they were thieves.
They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
    among the rocks and in holes in the ground.(H)
They brayed(I) among the bushes(J)
    and huddled in the undergrowth.
A base and nameless brood,(K)
    they were driven out of the land.(L)

“And now those young men mock me(M) in song;(N)
    I have become a byword(O) among them.
10 They detest me(P) and keep their distance;
    they do not hesitate to spit in my face.(Q)
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow(R) and afflicted me,(S)
    they throw off restraint(T) in my presence.
12 On my right(U) the tribe[c] attacks;
    they lay snares(V) for my feet,(W)
    they build their siege ramps against me.(X)
13 They break up my road;(Y)
    they succeed in destroying me.(Z)
    ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;(AA)
    amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Terrors(AB) overwhelm me;(AC)
    my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
    my safety vanishes like a cloud.(AD)

16 “And now my life ebbs away;(AE)
    days of suffering grip me.(AF)
17 Night pierces my bones;
    my gnawing pains never rest.(AG)
18 In his great power(AH) God becomes like clothing to me[d];
    he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud,(AI)
    and I am reduced to dust and ashes.(AJ)

20 “I cry out to you,(AK) God, but you do not answer;(AL)
    I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;(AM)
    with the might of your hand(AN) you attack me.(AO)
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;(AP)
    you toss me about in the storm.(AQ)
23 I know you will bring me down to death,(AR)
    to the place appointed for all the living.(AS)

24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man(AT)
    when he cries for help in his distress.(AU)
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?(AV)
    Has not my soul grieved for the poor?(AW)
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
    when I looked for light, then came darkness.(AX)
27 The churning inside me never stops;(AY)
    days of suffering confront me.(AZ)
28 I go about blackened,(BA) but not by the sun;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.(BB)
29 I have become a brother of jackals,(BC)
    a companion of owls.(BD)
30 My skin grows black(BE) and peels;(BF)
    my body burns with fever.(BG)
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,(BH)
    and my pipe(BI) to the sound of wailing.

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:3 Or gnawed
  2. Job 30:4 Or fuel
  3. Job 30:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  4. Job 30:18 Hebrew; Septuagint power he grasps my clothing