Job 30
Living Bible
30 “But now those younger than I deride me—young men whose fathers are less than my dogs. 2 Oh, they have strong backs all right, but they are useless, stupid fools. 3 They are gaunt with famine and have been cast out into deserts and the wastelands, desolate and gloomy. 4 They eat roots and leaves, 5 having been driven from civilization. Men shouted after them as after thieves. 6 So now they live in frightening ravines, and in caves, and among the rocks. 7 They sound like animals among the bushes, huddling together for shelter beneath the nettles. 8 These sons of theirs have also turned out to be fools, yes, children of no name, outcasts of civilization.
9 “And now I have become the subject of their ribald song! I am a joke among them! 10 They despise me and won’t come near me, and don’t mind spitting in my face. 11 For God has placed my life in jeopardy. These young men, having humbled me, now cast off all restraint before me. 12 This rabble trips me and lays traps in my path. 13 They block my road and do everything they can to hasten my calamity, knowing full well that I have no one to help me. 14 They come at me from all directions. They rush upon me when I am down.
15 “I live in terror now. They hold me in contempt, and my prosperity has vanished as a cloud before a strong wind. 16 My heart is broken. Depression haunts my days. 17 My weary nights are filled with pain as though something were relentlessly gnawing at my bones. 18 All night long I toss and turn, and my garments bind about me. 19 God has thrown me into the mud. I have become as dust and ashes.
20 “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer me. I stand before you and you don’t bother to look. 21 You have become cruel toward me and persecute me with great power and effect. 22 You throw me into the whirlwind and dissolve me in the storm. 23 And I know that your purpose for me is death. 24 I expected my fall to be broken, just as one who falls stretches out his hand or cries for help in his calamity.
25 “And did I not weep for those in trouble? Wasn’t I deeply grieved for the needy? 26 I therefore looked for good to come. Evil came instead. I waited for the light. Darkness came. 27 My heart is troubled and restless. Waves of affliction have come upon me. 28-29 I am black but not from sunburn. I stand up and cry to the assembly for help. But I might as well save my breath,[a] for I am considered a brother to jackals and a companion to ostriches. 30 My skin is black and peeling. My bones burn with fever. 31 The voice of joy and gladness has turned to mourning.
Footnotes
- Job 30:28 But I might as well save my breath, implied.
Job 30
Modern English Version
30 “But now those who are younger than I mock me,
whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.
2 Yes, how does the strength of their hands profit me?
Their vigor has perished.
3 For want and famine
they gnawed the parched land;
fleeing into the wilderness in former time, desolate and waste.
4 Who pluck mallow by the bushes,
and juniper roots for their food.
5 They were driven out from among men;
they shout after them as after a thief.
6 They had to dwell in the rocky riverbeds,
in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they brayed;
under the nettles they were gathered together.
8 They were children of fools, yes, children of vile men;
they were scourged from the earth.
9 “Now I am their taunting song;
yes, I am their byword.
10 They abhor me, they flee far from me;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me,
they have cast off the bridle before me.
12 At my right hand their brood arises;
they push away my feet,
and they raise against me their ways of destruction.
13 They tear apart my path,
they promote my calamity;
they have no helper.
14 They came upon me as a wide breach, with a crash they came;
in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
15 Terrors are turned on me;
they pursue my dignity like the wind,
and my help passes away as a cloud.
16 “Now my soul is poured out within me;
the days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 My bones are pierced in me at night,
and my sinews have no rest.
18 By the great force of my disease my garment is changed;
it binds me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He has cast me into the mire,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 “I cry unto You, but You do not hear me;
I stand up, and You do not regard me.
21 You have become cruel to me;
with Your strong hand You oppose me.
22 You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it;
You dissolve my success.
23 For I know that You will bring me to death,
and to the house appointed for all living.
24 “Surely He will not stretch out His hand to the grave,
though they cry when He destroys it.
25 Did I not weep for him who was in trouble?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 When I looked for good, then evil disaster came upon me;
and when I waited for light, darkness came.
27 My insides boiled and did not rest;
the days of affliction have met me.
28 I went mourning without the sun;
I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
29 I am a brother of jackals
and a companion of owls.
30 My skin is black upon me,
and my bones are burned with fever.
31 My harp is turned to mourning,
and my flute to the voice of those who weep.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.