Job 30–31
30 “But now they mock me,z
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.a
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?
3 Haggard from want and hunger,
they roameda the parched landb
in desolate wastelandsc at night.d
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,e
and their foodb was the root of the broom bush.f
5 They were banished from human society,
shouted at as if they were thieves.
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.g
7 They brayedh among the bushesi
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood,j
they were driven out of the land.k
9 “And now those young men mock mel in song;m
I have become a bywordn among them.
10 They detest meo and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.p
11 Now that God has unstrung my bowq and afflicted me,r
they throw off restraints in my presence.
12 On my rightt the tribec attacks;
they lay snaresu for my feet,v
they build their siege ramps against me.w
13 They break up my road;x
they succeed in destroying me.y
‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;z
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.c
16 “And now my life ebbs away;d
days of suffering grip me.e
my gnawing pains never rest.f
18 In his great powerg God becomes like clothing to med;
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud,h
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.i
20 “I cry out to you,j God, but you do not answer;k
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;l
with the might of your handm you attack me.n
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;o
you toss me about in the storm.p
23 I know you will bring me down to death,q
to the place appointed for all the living.r
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken mans
when he cries for help in his distress.t
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?u
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?v
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.w
27 The churning inside me never stops;x
days of suffering confront me.y
28 I go about blackened,z but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.a
29 I have become a brother of jackals,b
a companion of owls.c
30 My skin grows blackd and peels;e
my body burns with fever.f
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,g
and my pipeh to the sound of wailing.
31 “I made a covenant with my eyesi
not to look lustfully at a young woman.j
2 For what is our lotk from God above,
our heritage from the Almighty on high?l
3 Is it not ruinm for the wicked,
disastern for those who do wrong?o
4 Does he not see my waysp
and count my every step?q
5 “If I have walked with falsehood
or my foot has hurried after deceitr—
6 let God weigh mes in honest scalest
and he will know that I am blamelessu—
7 if my steps have turned from the path,v
if my heart has been led by my eyes,
or if my handsw have been defiled,x
8 then may others eat what I have sown,y
and may my crops be uprooted.z
9 “If my heart has been enticeda by a woman,b
or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 then may my wife grindc another man’s grain,
and may other men sleep with her.d
11 For that would have been wicked,e
a sin to be judged.f
12 It is a fireg that burns to Destructiona;h
it would have uprooted my harvest.i
13 “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,j
whether male or female,
when they had a grievance against me,k
14 what will I do when God confronts me?l
What will I answer when called to account?m
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?n
Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?o
16 “If I have denied the desires of the poorp
or let the eyes of the widowq grow weary,r
17 if I have kept my bread to myself,
not sharing it with the fatherlesss—
18 but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
and from my birth I guided the widowt—
19 if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,u
or the needyv without garments,
20 and their hearts did not bless mew
for warming them with the fleecex from my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,y
knowing that I had influence in court,z
22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let it be broken off at the joint.a
23 For I dreaded destruction from God,b
and for fear of his splendorc I could not do such things.d
24 “If I have put my trust in golde
or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’f
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,g
the fortune my hands had gained,h
26 if I have regarded the suni in its radiance
or the moonj moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticedk
and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,l
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,m
for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.n
29 “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortuneo
or gloated over the trouble that came to himp—
30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by invoking a curse against their lifeq—
31 if those of my household have never said,
‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’r—
32 but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
for my door was always open to the travelers—
33 if I have concealedt my sin as people do,b
by hidingu my guilt in my heart
34 because I so feared the crowdv
and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
that I kept silentw and would not go outside—
35 (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!x
I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
let my accusery put his indictment in writing.
36 Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,z
I would put it on like a crown.a
37 I would give him an account of my every step;b
I would present it to him as to a ruler.c)—
38 “if my land cries out against med
and all its furrows are wete with tears,
39 if I have devoured its yield without paymentf
or broken the spirit of its tenants,g
40 then let briersh come up instead of wheat
and stinkweedi instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.j