Job 30

30But men younger than I am make fun of me now!

Their fathers have always been so worthless

that I wouldn’t let them help my dogs guard sheep.

²They were a bunch of worn-out men,

too weak to do any work for me.

³They were so poor and hungry

that they would gnaw dry roots—

at night, in wild, desolate places.

⁴They pulled up the plants of the desert and ate them,

even the tasteless roots of the broom tree!

⁵Everyone drove them away with shouts,

as if they were shouting at thieves.

⁶They had to live in caves,

in holes dug in the sides of cliffs.

⁷Out in the wilds they howled like animals

and huddled together under the bushes.

⁸A worthless bunch of nameless nobodies!

They were driven out of the land.

⁹Now they come and laugh at me;

I am nothing but a joke to them.

¹⁰They treat me with disgust;

they think they are too good for me,

and even come and spit in my face.

¹¹Because God has made me weak and helpless,

they turn against me with all their fury.

¹²This mob attacks me head-on;

they send me running; they prepare their final assault.

¹³They cut off my escape and try to destroy me;

and there is no one to stopⁱ them.

¹⁴They pour through the holes in my defences

and come crashing down on top of me;

¹⁵I am overcome with terror;

my dignity is gone like a puff of wind,

and my prosperity like a cloud.

¹⁶Now I am about to die;

there is no relief for my suffering.

¹⁷At night my bones all ache;

the pain that gnaws me never stops.

¹⁸God seizes me by my collar

and twists my clothes out of shape.

¹⁹He throws me down in the mud;

I am no better than dirt.

²⁰I call to you, O God, but you never answer;

and when I pray, you pay no attention.

²¹You are treating me cruelly;

you persecute me with all your power.

²²You let the wind blow me away;

you toss me about in a raging storm.

²³I know you are taking me off to my death,

to the fate in store for everyone.

²⁴Why do you attack a ruined man,

one who can do nothing but beg for pity?^j

²⁵Didn’t I weep with people in trouble

and feel sorry for those in need?

²⁶I hoped for happiness and light,

but trouble and darkness came instead.

²⁷I am torn apart by worry and pain;

I have had day after day of suffering.

²⁸I go about in gloom, without any sunshine;

I stand up in public and plead for help.

²⁹My voice is as sad and lonely

as the cries of a jackal or an ostrich.

³⁰My skin has turned dark; I am burning with fever.

³¹Where once I heard joyful music,

now I hear only mourning and weeping.