30 But now they mock(A) me,
men younger than I am,
whose fathers I would have refused to put
with my sheep dogs.
What use to me was the strength of their hands?
Their vigor had left them.
Emaciated from poverty and hunger,
they gnawed the dry land,
the desolate wasteland by night.
They plucked mallow[a](B) among the shrubs,
and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
They were banished from human society;
people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
They are living on the slopes of the wadis,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
They bray among the shrubs;
they huddle beneath the thistles.
Foolish(C) men, without even a name.
They were forced to leave the land.

Now I am mocked by their songs;(D)
I have become an object of scorn to them.
10 They despise me and keep their distance from me;(E)
they do not hesitate to spit(F) in my face.
11 Because God has loosened my[b] bowstring and oppressed me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.(G)
12 The rabble[c] rise up at my right;
they trap[d] my feet
and construct their siege ramp[e] against me.(H)
13 They tear up my path;
they contribute to my destruction,(I)
without anyone to help them.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;
they keep rolling in through the ruins.(J)
15 Terrors(K) are turned loose against me;
they chase my dignity away like the wind,
and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.

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Notas al pie

  1. 30:4 Or saltwort
  2. 30:11 Alt Hb tradition, LXX, Vg read his
  3. 30:12 Hb obscure
  4. 30:12 Lit stretch out
  5. 30:12 Lit and raise up their destructive paths

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.
Furthermore, what could I have gained
    from men whose strength is gone?
Unproductive due to poverty[a] and hunger,
    they could only scratch in parched soil,
        devastated and desolated.

“They would pluck off herbs from salt marshes to eat;
    and roots of the broom shrub[b] for food.
Driven away from human company,
    they were shouted at as though they were thieves.
They lived in the most dangerous of ravines,
    in holes in the ground, and among rocks.
They bray like donkeys[c] among the bushes
    and huddle together under the desert weeds.
Sons of fools and of uncertain reputation,[d]
    they have been driven from the land by scourging.”

Job Presents the Actions of the Mockers

“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.”

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Notas al pie

  1. Job 30:3 Or want
  2. 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
  3. Job 30:7 The Heb. lacks like donkeys
  4. Job 30:8 Or and without a name
  5. Job 30:9 Lit. their neginnoth; i.e. derogatory songs composed to mock Job
  6. Job 30:11 Lit. he