Job 30

30TH CHAPTER

Job Talks about His Present Misery

¹“But now those who are younger than I am laugh at me. 

I didn’t think their fathers were fit to sit with the dogs of my flock. 

²Of what use to me was the strength of their hands? 

Their strength is gone. 

³Shriveled up from need and hunger, 

they gnaw at the dry and barren ground during the night. 

⁴They pick saltwort from the underbrush, 

and the roots of the broom plant are their food.^b

⁵They are driven from the community. 

People shout at them in the same way they shout at thieves. 

⁶They have to live in dry riverbeds, 

in holes in the ground, and among rocks. 

⁷They howl in bushes 

and huddle together under thornbushes. 

⁸Godless fools and worthless people 

are forced out of the land with whips. 

⁹“And now they make fun of me with songs. 

I have become a joke to them. 

¹⁰Since they consider me disgusting, they keep their distance from me 

and don’t hesitate to spit in my face. 

¹¹Because God has untied my cord and has made me suffer, 

they are no longer restrained in my presence. 

¹²They have attacked me on my right side like a mob. 

They trip my feet 

and then prepare ways to destroy me. 

¹³Yes, they remove all traces of my path in order to destroy me. 

No one is there to help me against them. 

¹⁴They come through a wide hole ⸤in the wall⸥. 

They crawl through the ruins. 

¹⁵Terrors are directed toward me. 

They blow away my dignity like the wind. 

My prosperity vanishes like a cloud. 

¹⁶“Now my life is pouring out of me. 

Days of suffering seize me. 

¹⁷At night God pierces my bones. 

My bodydoesn’t rest. 

¹⁸With great strength he grabs my clothes. 

He seizes me by the collar of my robe. 

¹⁹He throws me into the dirt 

so that I become like dust and ashes.” 

Job Calls on God for Help

²⁰“I call to you for help, 

but you don’t answer me. 

I stand up, but you just look at me. 

²¹You have begun to treat me cruelly. 

With your mighty hand you assault me. 

²²You pick me up and let the wind carry me away. 

You toss me around with a storm. 

²³I know you will lead me to death, 

to the dwelling place appointed for all living beings.” 

Job Says: I Am Being Punished by God

²⁴“But God doesn’t stretch out his hand against one who is ruined 

when that person calls for help in his disaster. 

²⁵Didn’t I cry for the person whose days were difficult? 

Didn’t my soul grieve for the poor? 

²⁶When I waited for good, evil came. 

When I looked for light, darkness came. 

²⁷My insides are churning and won’t calm down. 

Days of misery are ahead of me. 

²⁸I walk in the dark without the sun. 

I stand up in public and call for help. 

²⁹I’m a brother to jackals 

and a companion of ostriches. 

³⁰My skin turns dark and peels. 

My body burns with fever. 

³¹So my lyre is used for mourning 

and my flute for loud weeping.