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BibleStudyIt Job 30

  • Job Chapter 30

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Job continues to speak [ a ]

30 ‘But now it is different.
Men who are younger than I am laugh at me.
I would not even trust their fathers
to take care of my sheep.
2 The work that those old men could do was no help to me.
They no longer were strong.
3 They were weak and thin because they were hungry.
They had to look for food in the desert at night.
They found roots to eat in dry places.
4 They pulled up plants in the desert
as their food.
They burned the roots of bushes
to keep themselves warm.
5 People chased them away from their towns,
as if they were shouting at robbers.
6 They had to live in dry valleys,
among the rocks, or in caves.
7 They cried aloud like animals among the bushes.
They hid together under the thorn bushes.
8 They were foolish people that nobody respected.
People chased them away from their land.

9 But now their sons sing songs that insult me.
They tell jokes about me. [ b ]
10 They hate me
and they do not come near me.
When they see me,
they spit at my face.
11 God has made me weak and helpless.
People do to me anything that they want to do.
12 From one side, the crowd attacks me.
They make me run away.
They are like an army that builds a road
to come and attack me.
13 They stop me from escaping.
They are ready to destroy me.
They do not need anyone to help them.
14 I cannot stop them when they attack me.
They rush forward to knock me down.
15 So I am always afraid.
My honour has disappeared
as if a strong wind has blown it away.
My riches have also gone,
like a cloud that passes across the sky.

16 Now I know that my life will soon end.
Every day I continue to suffer.
17 At night, my bones are painful.
The pain is always there in my body.
18 God has used his power to take hold of me.
He has held my shirt around my neck.
19 He has thrown me down into the mud.
I am no better than dust and ashes on the ground.
20 I call aloud to you, God,
but you do not answer me.
When I stand to pray,
you only look at me.
21 You have become cruel to me.
You have used your strength to attack me.
22 You take hold of me and you carry me away,
like a strong wind that blows.
You use a storm to destroy me.
23 I know that you are already taking me to my death.
Everyone who lives has to go to that place.

24 When someone is weak and in trouble,
people do not usually try to hurt him.
When someone calls aloud for help,
they do not refuse to help him.
25 When other people were in trouble,
I wept for them.
When I saw poor people
it made me very upset.
26 But when I hoped for good things to happen,
trouble came instead.
When I looked for light to shine on me,
everything became dark.
27 I hurt inside me all the time.
Every day I suffer from pain.
28 Illness has caused my skin to become black.
It is not the sun that has made that happen.
I stand up in the public meeting place
and I call aloud for help.
29 I have become like the jackals and the ostriches.
My sad voice sounds like them.
30 My skin has become black,
and bits of skin fall off.
My body is hot with fever. [ c ]
31 Now, when I make music with my harp,
I only sing funeral songs.
When I make music with my flute,
I do it for people who are weeping.’

Footnotes

  1. 30:1 In chapter 30, Job speaks about his troubles. He has no money. He has no friends who can help him. But he does have a lot of pain. And the worst thing is that God will not answer his questions any more (verse 20).
  2. 30:9 A joke is something funny that people say. They used jokes to laugh at Job.
  3. 30:30 If someone has a fever, illness has made their body become very hot.

30 “But now men younger than I make fun of me—
men whose fathers were too worthless to put with my sheep dogs.
2 Their fathers are still too weak to be of any use to me.
All their strength is gone.
3 They are starving with nothing to eat,
so they chew on the dry, ruined land.
4 They pull up salt plants in the desert
and eat the roots from the broom tree.
5 They are forced away from other people,
who shout at them as if they were thieves.
6 They must live in the dry riverbeds,
hillside caves, and holes in the ground.
7 They howl in the bushes
and huddle together under thornbushes.
8 They are a bunch of worthless people without names,
who were forced to leave their country.

9 “Now their sons sing songs to make fun of me.
My name has become a bad word to them.
10 They hate me and stay far away from me,
except when they come to spit in my face!
11 God has taken the string from my bow and made me weak,
so they feel free to do whatever they want to me.
12 They attack me on my right side.
They knock my feet out from under me.
They build ramps to attack and destroy me like a city.
13 They guard the road so that I cannot escape.
They succeed in destroying me, without help from anyone.
14 They break a hole in the wall and come rushing through it,
and the crashing rocks fall on me.
15 I am shaking with fear.
They chased my honor away like dust in the wind.
My safety disappears like a cloud.

16 “Now my life is almost gone, and soon I will die.
Days of suffering have grabbed me.
17 All my bones ache at night.
Pain never stops chewing on me.
18 God grabbed the collar of my coat
and twisted my clothes out of shape.
19 He threw me into the mud,
and I became like dust and ashes.

20 “God, I cry out to you for help, but you don’t answer.
I stand up and pray, but you don’t pay attention to me.
21 You have become cruel to me;
you use your power to hurt me.
22 You let the strong wind blow me away.
You throw me around in the storm.
23 I know you will lead me to my death,
to that place where all the living must go.

24 “Surely no one would attack a man who is already ruined,
when he is hurt and crying for help.
25 God, you know that I cried for those who were in trouble.
You know that I mourned for the poor.
26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came instead.
When I looked for light, darkness came.
27 I constantly feel upset.
And my suffering has only just begun.
28 I am always sad and depressed, without any relief.
I stand up in the public meeting and cry for help,
29 making sad sounds like the wild dogs,
like the ostriches in the desert.
30 My skin is burned and peeling away.
My body is hot with fever.
31 My harp is tuned to play songs of sorrow.
My flute makes sad sounds like someone crying.

30 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

2 Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

3 For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

4 Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

5 They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)

6 To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.

7 Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

8 They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

9 And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.

10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.

11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.

12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.

14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

16 And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.

20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

21 Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.

22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.

23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

24 Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.

25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.

29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

Job’s Present State Is Humiliating

30 “But now those who are younger than I ( A ) mock me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the dogs of my flock.
2 Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
Vigor had perished from them.
3 From poverty and famine they are gaunt,
They who gnaw at the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,
4 Who pluck saltweed by the bushes,
And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.
5 They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,
6 So that they live on the slopes of ravines,
In holes in the ground and among the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they [ a ] cry out;
Under the weeds they are gathered together.
8 Worthless [ b ] fellows, even [ c ] those without a name,
They were cast out from the land.

9 “And now I have become their [ d ] ( B ) taunt,
And I have become a [ e ] ( C ) byword to them.
10 They loathe me and stand aloof from me,
And they do not [ f ] refrain from ( D ) spitting in my face.
11 Because He has undone [ g ] my [ h ] bowstring and ( E ) afflicted me,
They have cast off ( F ) the bridle before me.
12 On the right hand their [ i ] mob arises;
They ( G ) push aside my feet ( H ) and pile up their ways of destruction against me.
13 They ( I ) break up my path,
They promote my destruction;
No one restrains them.
14 As through a wide gap they come,
[ j ] Amid the storm they roll on.
15 ( J ) Sudden terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my dignity like the wind,
And my [ k ] prosperity has passed away ( K ) like a cloud.

16 “And now ( L ) my soul is poured out [ l ] within me;
Days of misery have seized me.
17 At night it pierces ( M ) my bones [ m ] within me,
And my gnawing pains do not rest.
18 By a great force my garment is ( N ) distorted;
It ties me up like the collar of my coat.
19 He has thrown me into the ( O ) mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I ( P ) cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.
21 You have [ n ] become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You ( Q ) persecute me.
22 You ( R ) lift me up to the wind and make me ride it ;
And You dissolve me in a storm.
23 For I know that You ( S ) will bring me to death,
And to the ( T ) house of meeting for all living.

24 “Yet does one in a heap of ruins not reach out with his hand,
Or in his disaster does he not ( U ) cry out for help?
25 Have I not ( V ) wept for the [ o ] one whose life is hard?
Was my soul not grieved for ( W ) the needy?
26 When I ( X ) expected good, evil came;
When I waited for light, ( Y ) darkness came.
27 [ p ] I am seething ( Z ) within and cannot rest;
Days of misery confront me.
28 I go about [ q ] ( AA ) mourning without comfort;
I stand up in the assembly and ( AB ) cry out for help.
29 I have become a brother to ( AC ) jackals,
And a companion of ostriches.
30 My ( AD ) skin turns black [ r ] on me,
And my ( AE ) bones burn with [ s ] fever.
31 Therefore my ( AF ) harp [ t ] is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:7 Or bray
  2. Job 30:8 Lit sons
  3. Job 30:8 Lit sons
  4. Job 30:9 Lit song
  5. Job 30:9 I.e., prob. a word of insult
  6. Job 30:10 Lit withhold spit from my face
  7. Job 30:11 Some mss His
  8. Job 30:11 Or cord
  9. Job 30:12 Or youth arise
  10. Job 30:14 Lit Under
  11. Job 30:15 Or welfare
  12. Job 30:16 Lit upon
  13. Job 30:17 Lit from upon
  14. Job 30:21 Lit turned to be
  15. Job 30:25 Lit hard of day
  16. Job 30:27 Lit My inward parts are boiling
  17. Job 30:28 Or blackened, but not by the heat of the sun
  18. Job 30:30 Lit from upon
  19. Job 30:30 Lit heat
  20. Job 30:31 Lit becomes

30 “But now they mock me, ( A )
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs. ( B )
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 roamed [ a ] the parched land ( C )
in desolate wastelands ( D ) at night. ( E )
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs, ( F )
and their food [ b ] was the root of the broom bush. ( G )
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. ( H )
7 They brayed ( I ) among the bushes ( J )
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood, ( K )
they were driven out of the land. ( L )

9 “And now those young men mock me ( M ) in song; ( N )
I have become a byword ( O ) among them.
10 They detest me ( P ) and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face. ( Q )
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow ( R ) and afflicted me, ( S )
they throw off restraint ( T ) in my presence.
12 On my right ( U ) the tribe [ c ] attacks;
they lay snares ( V ) for my feet, ( W )
they build their siege ramps against me. ( X )
13 They break up my road; ( Y )
they succeed in destroying me. ( Z )
‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach; ( AA )
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Terrors ( AB ) overwhelm me; ( AC )
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud. ( AD )

16 “And now my life ebbs away; ( AE )
days of suffering grip me. ( AF )
17 Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest. ( AG )
18 In his great power ( AH ) God becomes like clothing to me [ d ] ;
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud, ( AI )
and I am reduced to dust and ashes. ( AJ )

20 “I cry out to you, ( AK ) God, but you do not answer; ( AL )
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly; ( AM )
with the might of your hand ( AN ) you attack me. ( AO )
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; ( AP )
you toss me about in the storm. ( AQ )
23 I know you will bring me down to death, ( AR )
to the place appointed for all the living. ( AS )

24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man ( AT )
when he cries for help in his distress. ( AU )
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? ( AV )
Has not my soul grieved for the poor? ( AW )
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness. ( AX )
27 The churning inside me never stops; ( AY )
days of suffering confront me. ( AZ )
28 I go about blackened, ( BA ) but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. ( BB )
29 I have become a brother of jackals, ( BC )
a companion of owls. ( BD )
30 My skin grows black ( BE ) and peels; ( BF )
my body burns with fever. ( BG )
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning, ( BH )
and my pipe ( BI ) to the sound of wailing.

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:3 Or gnawed
  2. Job 30:4 Or fuel
  3. Job 30:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  4. Job 30:18 Hebrew; Septuagint power he grasps my clothing