Job 30

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 "But now they make sport of me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.	1 But now they hold me in derision who are younger in years than I; Whose fathers I should have disdained to rank with the dogs of my flock.
2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone?	2 Such strength as they had, to me meant nought; they were utterly destitute.
3 Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry and desolate ground;	3 In want and hunger was their lot, they who fled to the parched wastelands:
4 they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of the broom.	4 They plucked saltwort and shrubs; the roots of the broom plant were their food.
5 They are driven out from among men; they shout after them as after a thief.	5 They were banished from among men, with an outcry like that against a thief--
6 In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.	6 To dwell on the slopes of the wadies, in caves of sand and stone;
7 Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together.	7 Among the bushes they raised their raucous cry; under the nettles they huddled together.
8 A senseless, a disreputable brood, they have been whipped out of the land.	8 Irresponsible, nameless men, they were driven out of the land.
9 "And now I have become their song, I am a byword to them.	9 Yet now they sing of me in mockery; I am become a byword among them.
10 They abhor me, they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.	10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, they do not hesitate to spit in my face!
11 Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.	11 Indeed, they have loosed their bonds; they lord it over me, and have thrown off restraint in my presence.
12 On my right hand the rabble rise, they drive me forth, they cast up against me their ways of destruction.	12 To subvert my paths they rise up; they build their approaches for my ruin.
13 They break up my path, they promote my calamity; no one restrains them.	13 To destroy me, they attack with none to stay them;
14 As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.	14 as through a wide breach they advance. Amid the uproar they come on in waves;
15 Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.	15 over me rolls the terror. My dignity is borne off on the wind, and my welfare vanishes like a cloud.
16 "And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me.	16 My soul ebbs away from me;
17 The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.	17 My frame takes no rest by night; my inward parts seethe and will not be stilled.
18 With violence it seizes my garment; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.	18 One with great power lays hold of my clothing; by the collar of my tunic he seizes me:
19 God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.	19 He has cast me into the mire; I am leveled with the dust and ashes.
20 I cry to thee and thou dost not answer me; I stand, and thou dost not heed me.	20 I cry to you, but you do not answer me; you stand off and look at me,
21 Thou hast turned cruel to me; with the might of thy hand thou dost persecute me.	21 Then you turn upon me without mercy and with your strong hand you buffet me.
22 Thou liftest me up on the wind, thou makest me ride on it, and thou tossest me about in the roar of the storm.	22 You raise me up and drive me before the wind; I am tossed about by the tempest.
23 Yea, I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.	23 Indeed I know you will turn me back in death to the destined place of everyone alive.
24 "Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help?	24 Yet should not a hand be held out to help a wretched man in his calamity?
25 Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?	25 Or have I not wept for the hardships of others; was not my soul grieved for the destitute?
26 But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came.	26 Yet when I looked for good, then evil came; when I expected light, then came darkness.
27 My heart is in turmoil, and is never still; days of affliction come to meet me.	27 days of affliction have overtaken me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.	28 I go about in gloom, without the sun; I rise up in public to voice my grief.
29 I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches.	29 I have become the brother of jackals, companion to the ostrich.
30 My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat.	30 My blackened skin falls away from me; the heat scorches my very frame.
31 My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.	31 My harp is turned to mourning, and my reed pipe to sounds of weeping.