30 “But now those younger than I deride me—young men whose fathers are less than my dogs. 2 Oh, they have strong backs all right, but they are useless, stupid fools. 3 They are gaunt with famine and have been cast out into deserts and the wastelands, desolate and gloomy. 4 They eat roots and leaves, 5 having been driven from civilization. Men shouted after them as after thieves. 6 So now they live in frightening ravines, and in caves, and among the rocks. 7 They sound like animals among the bushes, huddling together for shelter beneath the nettles. 8 These sons of theirs have also turned out to be fools, yes, children of no name, outcasts of civilization.
9 “And now I have become the subject of their ribald song! I am a joke among them! 10 They despise me and won’t come near me, and don’t mind spitting in my face. 11 For God has placed my life in jeopardy. These young men, having humbled me, now cast off all restraint before me. 12 This rabble trips me and lays traps in my path. 13 They block my road and do everything they can to hasten my calamity, knowing full well that I have no one to help me. 14 They come at me from all directions. They rush upon me when I am down.
15 “I live in terror now. They hold me in contempt, and my prosperity has vanished as a cloud before a strong wind. 16 My heart is broken. Depression haunts my days. 17 My weary nights are filled with pain as though something were relentlessly gnawing at my bones. 18 All night long I toss and turn, and my garments bind about me. 19 God has thrown me into the mud. I have become as dust and ashes.
20 “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer me. I stand before you and you don’t bother to look. 21 You have become cruel toward me and persecute me with great power and effect. 22 You throw me into the whirlwind and dissolve me in the storm. 23 And I know that your purpose for me is death. 24 I expected my fall to be broken, just as one who falls stretches out his hand or cries for help in his calamity.
25 “And did I not weep for those in trouble? Wasn’t I deeply grieved for the needy? 26 I therefore looked for good to come. Evil came instead. I waited for the light. Darkness came. 27 My heart is troubled and restless. Waves of affliction have come upon me. 28-29 I am black but not from sunburn. I stand up and cry to the assembly for help. But I might as well save my breath,[a] for I am considered a brother to jackals and a companion to ostriches. 30 My skin is black and peeling. My bones burn with fever. 31 The voice of joy and gladness has turned to mourning.
Footnotes
- Job 30:28 But I might as well save my breath, implied.