30:1 “But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
30:2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them?
30:3 Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night.
30:4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom tree.
30:5 They were banished from their fellow men, shouted at as if they were thieves.
30:6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
30:7 They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth.
30:8 A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.
30:9 “And now their sons mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
30:10 They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
30:11 Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
30:12 On my right the tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me.
30:13 They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me–without anyone’s helping them.
30:14 They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.
30:15 Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.
30:16 “And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.
30:17 Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.
30:18 In his great power God becomes like clothing to me; he binds me like the neck of my garment.
30:19 He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
30:20 “I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.
30:21 You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.
30:22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.
30:23 I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
30:24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.
30:25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
30:26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.
30:27 The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.
30:28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
30:29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls.
30:30 My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever.
30:31 My harp is tuned to mourning, and my flute to the sound of wailing.
30:1 But now those who are younger than I / Hold me in derision, / Those whose fathers I disdained / To put with the dogs of my flock.
30:2 Indeed, what good is the strength of their hands to me? / Their vigor has perished from them.
30:3 Withered up through want and hunger, / They gnaw at the dry ground, / A gloom of waste and desolation.
30:4 They pick the mallow upon the bushes, / And the roots of the broom shrub are their food.
30:5 They are driven from the company of men; / Men cry after them as after a thief;
30:6 So that they must dwell in the most dreadful ravines, / In caves of the earth and in the rocks.
30:7 Among the bushes they bray; / Under the nettles they huddle.
30:8 Sons of fools, indeed sons of nameless men, / They have been stricken from the land.
30:9 And now I have become their song, / And I am a byword to them.
30:10 They abhor me; they stand aloof from me; / And they do not withhold their spit from my face.
30:11 For He has loosened my cord and afflicted me; / Therefore they have cast off restraint in my presence.
30:12 At my right hand a brood rises up; / They send my feet running / And cast up against me their ways of destruction.
30:13 They break up my path; / They promote my calamity, / Though there is no profit to them.
30:14 As through a wide breach they come in; / Amid the ruin they roll on.
30:15 Terrors are turned upon me; / My honor is pursued as by a wind, / And my prosperity passes away like a cloud.
30:16 And now my soul is poured out within me; / Days of affliction have taken hold of me.
30:17 The night rends my bones from me, / And my gnawing pains do not rest.
30:18 With great force my garments are distorted; / It binds me like the collar of my coat.
30:19 He has cast me into the mire, / And I am like dust and ashes.
30:20 I cry unto You, but You do not answer me; / I stand up, and You stare at me.
30:21 You have turned to become cruel to me; / With the might of Your hand You pursue me.
30:22 You lift me up into the wind; You make me ride on it; / And You dissolve me in the storm.
30:23 For I know that You will bring me into death, / And to the house appointed for all living.
30:24 Nevertheless does not a man put forth his hand when he falls, / Or because of his disaster therefore cry out?
30:25 Did I not weep for him who had hard days? / Was my soul not grieved for the needy?
30:26 When I expected good, evil came; / And when I waited for light, darkness came.
30:27 My inward parts are in turmoil and are not still; / Days of affliction have drawn near to me.
30:28 I go about in sunless mourning. / I rise up in the congregation; I cry for help.
30:29 I am a brother to jackals / And a companion to ostriches.
30:30 My skin is black and falling from me, / And my bones burn with heat.
30:31 My lyre has become mourning, / And my pipe, the voice of those who weep.