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30 “But now those who are younger than I
    make fun of me.
I would not have even let their fathers
    sit with my sheep dogs.
What use did I have for their strength
    since they had lost their strength to work?
They were thin from hunger
    and wandered the dry and ruined land at night.
They gathered desert plants among the brush
    and ate the root of the broom tree.
They were forced to live away from people;
    people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
They lived in dried-up streambeds,
    in caves, and among the rocks.
They howled like animals among the bushes
    and huddled together in the brush.
They are worthless people without names
    and were forced to leave the land.

“Now they make fun of me with songs;
    my name is a joke among them.
10 They hate me and stay far away from me,
    but they do not mind spitting in my face.
11 God has taken away my strength and made me suffer,
    so they attack me with all their anger.
12 On my right side they rise up like a mob.
    They lay traps for my feet
    and prepare to attack me.
13 They break up my road
    and work to destroy me,
    and no one helps me.
14 They come at me as if through a hole in the wall,
    and they roll in among the ruins.
15 Great fears overwhelm me.
    They blow my honor away as if by a great wind,
    and my safety disappears like a cloud.

16 “Now my life is almost over;
    my days are full of suffering.
17 At night my bones ache;
    gnawing pains never stop.
18 In his great power God grabs hold of my clothing
    and chokes me with the collar of my coat.
19 He throws me into the mud,
    and I become like dirt and ashes.

20 “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;
    I stand up, but you just look at me.
21 You have turned on me without mercy;
    with your powerful hand you attacked me.
22 You snatched me up and threw me into the wind
    and tossed me about in the storm.
23 I know you will bring me down to death,
    to the place where all living people must go.

24 “Surely no one would hurt those who are ruined
    when they cry for help in their time of trouble.
25 I cried for those who were in trouble;
    I have been very sad for poor people.
26 But when I hoped for good, only evil came to me;
    when I looked for light, darkness came.
27 I never stop being upset;
    days of suffering are ahead of me.
28 I have turned black, but not by the sun.
    I stand up in public and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother to wild dogs
    and a friend to ostriches.
30 My skin has become black and peels off,
    as my body burns with fever.
31 My harp is tuned to sing a sad song,
    and my flute is tuned to moaning.

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