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30 “But now those younger than I (A)laugh at me,
Whose fathers I rejected even to put with the dogs of my flock.
Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
Vigor had perished from them.
From want and famine they are gaunt,
Who gnaw the dry ground by night in destruction and desolation,
Who pluck [a]mallow by the bushes,
And whose food is the root of the broom tree.
They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,
So that they dwell in the slopes of the [b]valleys,
In holes of the dust and of the rocks.
Among the bushes they [c]cry out;
Under the nettles they are gathered together.
[d]Wicked fools, even [e]those without a name,
They were scourged from the land.

“And now I have become their mocking (B)song;
I have even become a (C)taunting word to them.
10 They abhor me and keep a distance from me,
And they do not [f]hold back from (D)spitting at my face.
11 Because [g]He has loosed [h]His [i]bowstring and (E)afflicted me,
They have thrust aside (F)their bridle before me.
12 On the right hand their [j]brood arises;
They (G)thrust aside my feet (H)and build up against me their ways to disaster.
13 They (I)break up my path;
They profit [k]from my destruction;
They have no helper.
14 As through a wide breach they come,
[l]Amid the storm they roll on.
15 (J)Terrors are turned against me;
They pursue my nobility as the wind,
And my hope for salvation has passed away (K)like a cloud.

16 “And now (L)my soul is poured out [m]within me;
Days of affliction have seized me.
17 At night it pierces (M)my bones [n]within me,
And my gnawing pains take no rest.
18 By a great force my garment is (N)distorted;
It seizes me about as the collar of my tunic.
19 He has cast me into the (O)mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I (P)cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You carefully consider how to be against me.
21 You have [o]become cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You (Q)hunted me down.
22 You (R)lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride;
And You melt me away in a storm.
23 For I know that You (S)will bring me to death
And to the (T)house of meeting for all living.

24 “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
Or, in his upheaval, is there a (U)cry for help because of them?
25 Have I not (V)wept for the [p]one whose life is hard?
Was not my soul grieved for (W)the needy?
26 When I (X)hoped for good, then evil came;
When I waited for light, (Y)then thick darkness came.
27 [q]I am boiling (Z)within and cannot be silent;
Days of affliction confront me.
28 I go about (AA)darkened but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and (AB)cry out for help.
29 I have become a brother to (AC)jackals
And a companion of ostriches.
30 My (AD)skin turns black [r]on me,
And my (AE)bones burn with [s]fever.
31 Therefore my (AF)harp [t]is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:4 Plant of the salt marshes
  2. Job 30:6 Or wadis
  3. Job 30:7 Or bray
  4. Job 30:8 Lit Sons of fools
  5. Job 30:8 Lit sons
  6. Job 30:10 Lit withhold spit from my face
  7. Job 30:11 Or they
  8. Job 30:11 Some mss my
  9. Job 30:11 Or cord
  10. Job 30:12 Possibly sprout, offspring
  11. Job 30:13 Lit for
  12. Job 30:14 Lit Under
  13. Job 30:16 Lit upon
  14. Job 30:17 Lit from upon
  15. Job 30:21 Lit turned to be
  16. Job 30:25 Lit hard of day
  17. Job 30:27 Lit My inward parts are boiling
  18. Job 30:30 Lit from upon
  19. Job 30:30 Lit heat
  20. Job 30:31 Lit becomes

Mockers

30 But now those younger than I mock me,
    whose fathers I refused to put beside my sheepdogs.
Their strength, what’s it to me,
    their energy having perished?
Stiff from want and hunger,
    those who gnaw dry ground,
    yesterday’s desolate waste,
    who pluck off the leaves on a bush,
    the root of the broom—
    a shrub is their food.
People banish them from society,
        shout at them as if to a thief;
    so they live in scary ravines,
        holes in the ground and rocks.
Among shrubs, they make sounds like donkeys;
    they are huddled together under a bush,
    children of fools and the nameless,
        whipped out of the land.

Specific mocking behavior

And now I’m their song;
    I’m their cliché!
10 They detest me, keep their distance,
    don’t withhold spit from my face.
11 Because he loosened my bowstring and afflicted me,
    they throw off restraint in my presence.
12 On the right, upstarts[a] rise and target my feet,
    build their siege ramps against me,
13     destroy my road, profit from my fall,
        with no help.
14 They advance as if through a destroyed wall;[b]
    they roll along beneath the ruin.
15 Terrors crash upon me;
    they sweep away my honor like wind;
        my safety disappears like a cloud.

Accusation against God

16 Now my life is poured out on me;
    days of misery have seized me.
17 At night he bores my bones;
    my gnawing pain won’t rest.
18 With great force he grasps[c] my clothing;[d]
    it binds me like the neck of my shirt.
19 He hurls me into mud;
    I’m a cliché, like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you, and you don’t answer;
    I stand up, but you just look at me.
21 You are cruel to me,
    attack me with the strength of your hand.
22 You lift me to the wind and make me ride;
    you melt me in its roar.
23 I know you will return me to death,
    the house appointed for all the living.

Job’s agony

24 Surely he won’t strike someone in ruins
        if in distress he cries out to him,
25     if I didn’t weep for those who have a difficult day
        or my soul grieve for the needy;
26     for I awaited good, but evil came;
        I expected light, but gloom arrived.
27 My insides, churning, are never quiet;
    days of affliction confront me.
28 I walk in the dark, lacking sunshine;
    I rise in the assembly and cry out.
29 I have become a brother to jackals,
    a companion to young ostriches.
30 My skin is charred;
    my bones are scorched by the heat.
31 My lyre is for mourning,
    my flute, a weeping sound.

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:12 Heb uncertain
  2. Job 30:14 Or a wide opening
  3. Job 30:18 LXX
  4. Job 30:18 Heb uncertain