Job 30

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 But now, those younger in years scorn me, whose fathers I would not have seen fit to place 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 the strength of whose hands was nothing to me, and they were considered unworthy of life itself.	2 Such strength as they had, to me meant nought; they were utterly destitute.
3 They were barren from poverty and hunger; they gnawed in solitude, layered with misfortune and misery.	3 In want and hunger was their lot, they who fled to the parched wastelands:
4 And they chewed grass and the bark from trees, and the root of junipers was their food.	4 They plucked saltwort and shrubs; the roots of the broom plant were their food.
5 They took these things from the steep valleys, and when they discovered one of these things, they rushed to the others with a cry.	5 They were banished from among men, with an outcry like that against a thief--
6 They lived in the parched desert and in caves underground or above the rocks.	6 To dwell on the slopes of the wadies, in caves of sand and stone;
7 They rejoiced among these kinds of things, and they considered it delightful to be under thorns.	7 Among the bushes they raised their raucous cry; under the nettles they huddled together.
8 These are the sons of foolish and base men, not even paying any attention to the land.	8 Irresponsible, nameless men, they were driven out of the land.
9 Now I become their song, and I have been made into their proverb.	9 Yet now they sing of me in mockery; I am become a byword among them.
10 They loathe me, and so they flee far from me, and they are not reluctant to spit in my face.	10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, they do not hesitate to spit in my face!
11 For he has opened his quiver and has afflicted me, and he has placed a bridle in my mouth.	11 Indeed, they have loosed their bonds; they lord it over me, and have thrown off restraint in my presence.
12 Immediately, upon rising, my calamities rise up to the right. They have overturned my feet and have pressed me down along their way like waves.	12 To subvert my paths they rise up; they build their approaches for my ruin.
13 They have diverted my journeys; they have waited to ambush me, and they have prevailed, and there was no one who might bring help.	13 To destroy me, they attack with none to stay them;
14 They have rushed upon me, as when a wall is broken or a gate opened, and they have been pulled down into my miseries.	14 as through a wide breach they advance. Amid the uproar they come on in waves;
15 I have been reduced to nothing. You have taken away my desire like a wind, and my health has passed by 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 But now my soul withers within myself, and the days of affliction take hold of me.	16 My soul ebbs away from me;
17 At night, my bone is pierced with sorrows, and those who feed on me, do not sleep.	17 My frame takes no rest by night; my inward parts seethe and will not be stilled.
18 By the sheer number of them my clothing is worn away, and they have closed in on me like the collar of my coat.	18 One with great power lays hold of my clothing; by the collar of my tunic he seizes me:
19 I have been treated like dirt, and I have been turned into embers and ashes.	19 He has cast me into the mire; I am leveled with the dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you, and you do not heed me. I stand up, and you do not look back at me.	20 I cry to you, but you do not answer me; you stand off and look at me,
21 You have changed me into hardness, and, with the hardness of your hand, you oppose me.	21 Then you turn upon me without mercy and with your strong hand you buffet me.
22 You have lifted me up, and, placing me as if on the wind, you have thrown me down powerfully.	22 You raise me up and drive me before the wind; I am tossed about by the tempest.
23 I know that you will hand me over to death, where a home has been established for all the living.	23 Indeed I know you will turn me back in death to the destined place of everyone alive.
24 Truly, then, you do not extend your hand in order to consume them, and if they fall down, you will save them.	24 Yet should not a hand be held out to help a wretched man in his calamity?
25 Once, I wept over him who was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.	25 Or have I not wept for the hardships of others; was not my soul grieved for the destitute?
26 I expected good things, but evil things have come to me. I stood ready for light, yet darkness burst forth.	26 Yet when I looked for good, then evil came; when I expected light, then came darkness.
27 My insides have seethed, without any rest, for the days of affliction have prevented it.	27 days of affliction have overtaken me.
28 I went forth mourning, without anger, and rising up, I cried out in confusion.	28 I go about in gloom, without the sun; I rise up in public to voice my grief.
29 I was the brother of snakes, and the companion of ostriches.	29 I have become the brother of jackals, companion to the ostrich.
30 My skin has become blackened over me, and my bones have dried up because of the heat.	30 My blackened skin falls away from me; the heat scorches my very frame.
31 My harp has been turned into mourning, and my pipes have been turned into a voice of weeping.	31 My harp is turned to mourning, and my reed pipe to sounds of weeping.