Job 30
- 1
“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs. Begin Abide·
- 2
What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them? Begin Abide·
- 3
Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night. Begin Abide·
- 4
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food. Begin Abide·
- 5
They were banished from among men, shouted at like thieves, Begin Abide·
- 6
so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. Begin Abide·
- 7
They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles. Begin Abide·
- 8
A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land. Begin Abide·
- 9
And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them. Begin Abide·
- 10
They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. Begin Abide·
- 11
Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence. Begin Abide·
- 12
The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me. Begin Abide·
- 13
They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them. Begin Abide·
- 14
They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in. Begin Abide·
- 15
Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud. Begin Abide·
- 16
And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me. Begin Abide·
- 17
Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest. Begin Abide·
- 18
With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic. Begin Abide·
- 19
He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes. Begin Abide·
- 20
I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me. Begin Abide·
- 21
You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand. Begin Abide·
- 22
You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm. Begin Abide·
- 23
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living. Begin Abide·
- 24
Yet no one stretches out his hand against a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress. Begin Abide·
- 25
Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy? Begin Abide·
- 26
But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell. Begin Abide·
- 27
I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me. Begin Abide·
- 28
I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. Begin Abide·
- 29
I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches. Begin Abide·
- 30
My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever. Begin Abide·
- 31
My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping. Begin Abide·