Job 30

¹But now, those younger in years scorn me, whose fathers I would not have seen fit to place with the dogs of my flock

²the strength of whose hands was nothing to me, and they were considered unworthy of life itself

³They were barren from poverty and hunger; they gnawed in solitude, layered with misfortune and misery

⁴And they chewed grass and the bark from trees, and the root of junipers was their food

⁵They took these things from the steep valleys, and when they discovered one of these things, they rushed to the others with a cry

⁶They lived in the parched desert and in caves underground or above the rocks

⁷They rejoiced among these kinds of things, and they considered it delightful to be under thorns

⁸These are the sons of foolish and base men, not even paying any attention to the land

⁹Now I become their song, and I have been made into their proverb

¹⁰They loathe me, and so they flee far from me, and they are not reluctant to spit in my face

¹¹For he has opened his quiver and has afflicted me, and he has placed a bridle in my mouth

¹²Immediately, upon rising, my calamities rise up to the right. They have overturned my feet and have pressed me down along their way like waves

¹³They have diverted my journeys; they have waited to ambush me, and they have prevailed, and there was no one who might bring help

¹⁴They have rushed upon me, as when a wall is broken or a gate opened, and they have been pulled down into my miseries

¹⁵I have been reduced to nothing. You have taken away my desire like a wind, and my health has passed by like a cloud

¹⁶But now my soul withers within myself, and the days of affliction take hold of me

¹⁷At night, my bone is pierced with sorrows, and those who feed on me, do not sleep

¹⁸By the sheer number of them my clothing is worn away, and they have closed in on me like the collar of my coat

¹⁹I have been treated like dirt, and I have been turned into embers and ashes

²⁰I cry to you, and you do not heed me. I stand up, and you do not look back at me

²¹You have changed me into hardness, and, with the hardness of your hand, you oppose me

²²You have lifted me up, and, placing me as if on the wind, you have thrown me down powerfully

²³I know that you will hand me over to death, where a home has been established for all the living

²⁴Truly, then, you do not extend your hand in order to consume them, and if they fall down, you will save them

²⁵Once, I wept over him who was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor

²⁶I expected good things, but evil things have come to me. I stood ready for light, yet darkness burst forth

²⁷My insides have seethed, without any rest, for the days of affliction have prevented it

²⁸I went forth mourning, without anger, and rising up, I cried out in confusion

²⁹I was the brother of snakes, and the companion of ostriches

³⁰My skin has become blackened over me, and my bones have dried up because of the heat

³¹My harp has been turned into mourning, and my pipes have been turned into a voice of weeping