【Job】Chapter 30 << Last Chapter Next Chapter >>

30:1 But now they hold me in derision who are younger in years than I; Whose fathers I should have disdained to rank with the dogs of my flock.

30:2 Such strength as they had, to me meant nought; they were utterly destitute.

30:3 In want and hunger was their lot, they who fled to the parched wastelands:

30:4 They plucked saltwort and shrubs; the roots of the broom plant were their food.

30:5 They were banished from among men, with an outcry like that against a thief ?

30:6 To dwell on the slopes of the wadies, in caves of sand and stone;

30:7 Among the bushes they raised their raucous cry; under the nettles they huddled together.

30:8 Irresponsible, nameless men, they were driven out of the land.

30:9 Yet now they sing of me in mockery; I am become a byword among them.

30:10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, they do not hesitate to spit in my face!

30:11 Indeed, they have loosed their bonds; they lord it over me, and have thrown off restraint in my presence.

30:12 To subvert my paths they rise up; they build their approaches for my ruin.

30:13 To destroy me, they attack with none to stay them;

30:14 as through a wide breach they advance. Amid the uproar they come on in waves;

30:15 over me rolls the terror. My dignity is borne off on the wind, and my welfare vanishes like a cloud.

30:16 My soul ebbs away from me;

30:17 My frame takes no rest by night; my inward parts seethe and will not be stilled.

30:18 One with great power lays hold of my clothing; by the collar of my tunic he seizes me:

30:19 He has cast me into the mire; I am leveled with the dust and ashes.

30:20 I cry to you, but you do not answer me; you stand off and look at me,

30:21 Then you turn upon me without mercy and with your strong hand you buffet me.

30:22 You raise me up and drive me before the wind; I am tossed about by the tempest.

30:23 Indeed I know you will turn me back in death to the destined place of everyone alive.

30:24 Yet should not a hand be held out to help a wretched man in his calamity?

30:25 Or have I not wept for the hardships of others; was not my soul grieved for the destitute?

30:26 Yet when I looked for good, then evil came; when I expected light, then came darkness.

30:27 days of affliction have overtaken me.

30:28 I go about in gloom, without the sun; I rise up in public to voice my grief.

30:29 I have become the brother of jackals, companion to the ostrich.

30:30 My blackened skin falls away from me; the heat scorches my very frame.

30:31 My harp is turned to mourning, and my reed pipe to sounds of weeping.

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