Job

The book of Job, chapter 30, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 30 New English Translation

Job's Present Misery

   1 "But now they mock me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I disdained too much to put with my sheep dogs.
   2 Moreover, the strength of their hands - what use was it to me? Men whose strength had perished;
   3 gaunt with want and hunger, they would gnaw the parched land, in former time desolate and waste.
   4 By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes, and the root of the broom tree was their food.
   5 They were banished from the community - people shouted at them like they would shout at thieves -
   6 so that they had to live in the dry stream beds, in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.
   7 They brayed like animals among the bushes and were huddled together under the nettles.
   8 Sons of senseless and nameless people, they were driven out of the land with whips.

Job's Indignities

   9 "And now I have become their taunt song; I have become a byword among them.
   10 They detest me and maintain their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
   11 Because God has untied my tent cord and afflicted me, people throw off all restraint in my presence.
   12 On my right the young rabble rise up; they drive me from place to place, and build up siege ramps against me.
   13 They destroy my path; they succeed in destroying me without anyone assisting them.
   14 They come in as through a wide breach; amid the crash they come rolling in.
   15 Terrors are turned loose on me; they drive away my honor like the wind, and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

Job's Despondency

   16 "And now my soul pours itself out within me; days of suffering take hold of me.
   17 Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never cease.
   18 With great power God grasps my clothing; he binds me like the collar of my tunic.
   19 He has flung me into the mud, and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.
   20 I cry out to you, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you only look at me.
   21 You have become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you attack me.
   22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; you toss me about in the storm.
   23 I know that you are bringing me to death, to the meeting place for all the living.

The Contrast With the Past

   24 "Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.
   25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
   26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came; when I expected light, then darkness came.
   27 My heart is in turmoil unceasingly; the days of my affliction confront me.
   28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.
   29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.
   30 My skin has turned dark on me; my body is hot with fever.
   31 My harp is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.

King James Version

   1 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
   2 Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
   3 For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
   4 Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
   5 They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)
   6 To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
   7 Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
   8 They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.
   9 And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.
   10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
   11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.
   12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
   13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
   14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
   15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
   16 And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
   17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.
   18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
   19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
   20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.
   21 Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.
   22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.
   23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
   24 Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
   25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
   26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
   27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
   28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
   29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
   30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
   31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.