Job 30

Living Bible

30 “But now those younger than I deride me—young men whose fathers are less than my dogs. ² Oh, they have strong backs all right, but they are useless, stupid fools. ³ They are gaunt with famine and have been cast out into deserts and the wastelands, desolate and gloomy. ⁴ They eat roots and leaves, ⁵ having been driven from civilization. Men shouted after them as after thieves. ⁶ So now they live in frightening ravines, and in caves, and among the rocks. ⁷ They sound like animals among the bushes, huddling together for shelter beneath the nettles. ⁸ These sons of theirs have also turned out to be fools, yes, children of no name, outcasts of civilization.

⁹ “And now I have become the subject of their ribald song! I am a joke among them! ¹⁰ They despise me and won’t come near me, and don’t mind spitting in my face. ¹¹ For God has placed my life in jeopardy. These young men, having humbled me, now cast off all restraint before me. ¹² This rabble trips me and lays traps in my path. ¹³ They block my road and do everything they can to hasten my calamity, knowing full well that I have no one to help me. ¹⁴ They come at me from all directions. They rush upon me when I am down.

¹⁵ “I live in terror now. They hold me in contempt, and my prosperity has vanished as a cloud before a strong wind. ¹⁶ My heart is broken. Depression haunts my days. ¹⁷ My weary nights are filled with pain as though something were relentlessly gnawing at my bones. ¹⁸ All night long I toss and turn, and my garments bind about me. ¹⁹ God has thrown me into the mud. I have become as dust and ashes.

²⁰ “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer me. I stand before you and you don’t bother to look. ²¹ You have become cruel toward me and persecute me with great power and effect. ²² You throw me into the whirlwind and dissolve me in the storm. ²³ And I know that your purpose for me is death. ²⁴ I expected my fall to be broken, just as one who falls stretches out his hand or cries for help in his calamity.

²⁵ “And did I not weep for those in trouble? Wasn’t I deeply grieved for the needy? ²⁶ I therefore looked for good to come. Evil came instead. I waited for the light. Darkness came. ²⁷ My heart is troubled and restless. Waves of affliction have come upon me. ^28-29 I am black but not from sunburn. I stand up and cry to the assembly for help. But I might as well save my breath,^[a] for I am considered a brother to jackals and a companion to ostriches. ³⁰ My skin is black and peeling. My bones burn with fever. ³¹ The voice of joy and gladness has turned to mourning.