Job 30
GOD’S WORD Translation
Job Talks about His Present Misery
30 “But now those who are younger than I am laugh at me.
I didn’t think their fathers were fit to sit with the dogs of my flock.
2 Of what use to me was the strength of their hands?
Their strength is gone.
3 Shriveled up from need and hunger,
they gnaw at the dry and barren ground during the night.
4 They pick saltwort from the underbrush,
and the roots of the broom plant are their food.[a]
5 They are driven from the community.
People shout at them in the same way they shout at thieves.
6 They have to live in dry riverbeds,
in holes in the ground, and among rocks.
7 They howl in bushes
and huddle together under thornbushes.
8 Godless fools and worthless people
are forced out of the land with whips.
9 “And now they make fun of me with songs.
I have become a joke to them.
10 Since they consider me disgusting, they keep their distance from me
and don’t hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because God has untied my cord and has made me suffer,
they are no longer restrained in my presence.
12 They have attacked me on my right side like a mob.
They trip my feet
and then prepare ways to destroy me.
13 Yes, they remove all traces of my path in order to destroy me.
No one is there to help me against them.
14 They come through a wide hole ⌞in the wall⌟.
They crawl through the ruins.
15 Terrors are directed toward me.
They blow away my dignity like the wind.
My prosperity vanishes like a cloud.
16 “Now my life is pouring out of me.
Days of suffering seize me.
17 At night God pierces my bones.
My body doesn’t rest.
18 With great strength he grabs my clothes.
He seizes me by the collar of my robe.
19 He throws me into the dirt
so that I become like dust and ashes.
Job Calls on God for Help
20 “I call to you for help,
but you don’t answer me.
I stand up, but you just look at me.
21 You have begun to treat me cruelly.
With your mighty hand you assault me.
22 You pick me up and let the wind carry me away.
You toss me around with a storm.
23 I know you will lead me to death,
to the dwelling place appointed for all living beings.
Job Says: I Am Being Punished by God
24 “But God doesn’t stretch out his hand against one who is ruined
when that person calls for help in his disaster.
25 Didn’t I cry for the person whose days were difficult?
Didn’t my soul grieve for the poor?
26 When I waited for good, evil came.
When I looked for light, darkness came.
27 My insides are churning and won’t calm down.
Days of misery are ahead of me.
28 I walk in the dark without the sun.
I stand up in public and call for help.
29 I’m a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin turns dark and peels.
My body burns with fever.
31 So my lyre is used for mourning
and my flute for loud weeping.
Footnotes
- 30:4 Or “they use the roots of the broom plant for warmth.”
Job 30
New American Standard Bible
Job’s Present State Is Humiliating
30 “But now those who are younger than I (A)mock me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the dogs of my flock.
2 Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
Vigor had perished from them.
3 From poverty and famine they are gaunt,
They who gnaw at the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,
4 Who pluck saltweed by the bushes,
And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.
5 They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,
6 So that they live on the slopes of ravines,
In holes in the ground and among the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they [a]cry out;
Under the weeds they are gathered together.
8 Worthless [b]fellows, even [c]those without a name,
They were cast out from the land.
9 “And now I have become their [d](B)taunt,
And I have become a [e](C)byword to them.
10 They loathe me and stand aloof from me,
And they do not [f]refrain from (D)spitting in my face.
11 Because He has undone [g]my [h]bowstring and (E)afflicted me,
They have cast off (F)the bridle before me.
12 On the right hand their [i]mob arises;
They (G)push aside my feet (H)and pile up their ways of destruction against me.
13 They (I)break up my path,
They promote my destruction;
No one restrains them.
14 As through a wide gap they come,
[j]Amid the storm they roll on.
15 (J)Sudden terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my dignity like the wind,
And my [k]prosperity has passed away (K)like a cloud.
16 “And now (L)my soul is poured out [l]within me;
Days of misery have seized me.
17 At night it pierces (M)my bones [m]within me,
And my gnawing pains do not rest.
18 By a great force my garment is (N)distorted;
It ties me up like the collar of my coat.
19 He has thrown me into the (O)mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I (P)cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.
21 You have [n]become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You (Q)persecute me.
22 You (R)lift me up to the wind and make me ride it;
And You dissolve me in a storm.
23 For I know that You (S)will bring me to death,
And to the (T)house of meeting for all living.
24 “Yet does one in a heap of ruins not reach out with his hand,
Or in his disaster does he not (U)cry out for help?
25 Have I not (V)wept for the [o]one whose life is hard?
Was my soul not grieved for (W)the needy?
26 When I (X)expected good, evil came;
When I waited for light, (Y)darkness came.
27 [p]I am seething (Z)within and cannot rest;
Days of misery confront me.
28 I go about [q](AA)mourning without comfort;
I stand up in the assembly and (AB)cry out for help.
29 I have become a brother to (AC)jackals,
And a companion of ostriches.
30 My (AD)skin turns black [r]on me,
And my (AE)bones burn with [s]fever.
31 Therefore my (AF)harp [t]is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep.
Footnotes
- Job 30:7 Or bray
- Job 30:8 Lit sons
- Job 30:8 Lit sons
- Job 30:9 Lit song
- Job 30:9 I.e., prob. a word of insult
- Job 30:10 Lit withhold spit from my face
- Job 30:11 Some mss His
- Job 30:11 Or cord
- Job 30:12 Or youth arise
- Job 30:14 Lit Under
- Job 30:15 Or welfare
- Job 30:16 Lit upon
- Job 30:17 Lit from upon
- Job 30:21 Lit turned to be
- Job 30:25 Lit hard of day
- Job 30:27 Lit My inward parts are boiling
- Job 30:28 Or blackened, but not by the heat of the sun
- Job 30:30 Lit from upon
- Job 30:30 Lit heat
- Job 30:31 Lit becomes
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
