Job
Chapter 30
1 Now, younger people mock me, people whose fathers I wouldn’t have let sit with my sheepdogs.
2 Yes, how could the strength of their hands help me, when they were worn out by old age?
3 They were alone, suffering from hunger and need; they ran away to the empty, barren wilderness long ago.
4 They gathered plants by the bushes and used juniper roots for food.
5 They were forced out from where people lived; people shouted at them as they would at a thief.
6 To live in valley cliffs, earth caves, and among the rocks.
7 In the bushes they cried out; under the thorns they huddled together.
8 They were kids of fools, yes, kids of lowly men; they were worse than dirt.
9 Now I am their joke; yes, I am their mocking word.
10 They hate me, they run away from me, and they don’t hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because he has untied my rope and made me suffer, they have also removed the restraint in my presence.
12 Young people gather on my right side; they knock me off my feet, and they build up paths to harm me.
13 They block my way, they increase my trouble, they have no helper.
14 They attacked me like a flood breaking through: in my ruin, they overwhelmed me.
15 Fears attack me; they chase my soul like the wind: and my well-being disappears like a cloud.
16 My soul is poured out inside me; days of suffering grip me.
17 At night, my bones hurt deeply, and my muscles get no rest.
18 My sickness is so strong it changes my clothes; it wraps around me like my coat’s collar.
19 He has thrown me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I call to you, but you don’t hear me; I stand up, but you don’t notice me.
21 You have become harsh to me; with your strong hand, you stand against me.
22 You lift me up to the wind; you make me ride on it, and you melt away my strength.
23 I know you will lead me to death, to the place set for everyone who lives.
24 However, he will not reach out to the grave when they call out as they perish.
25 Didn’t I cry for the person who was suffering? Wasn’t I sad for the poor?
26 When I hoped for good, evil came to me; and when I waited for light, darkness arrived.
27 I felt deep turmoil inside and could not rest; my days of trouble came before I was ready.
28 I walked sadly without the sun; I stood up and cried among the people.
29 I am like a brother to wild dragons, and a friend to owls.
30 My skin is dark on me, and my bones are hot from burning.
31 My harp now plays sad songs, and my flute sounds like the cries of those who are crying.