30:001

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

30:002

Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me? men in whom ripe age is perished

30:003

They are gaunt with want and famine; they gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation

30:004

They pluck salt-wort with wormwood; and the roots of the broom are their food

30:005

They are driven forth from the midst of men; they cry after them as after a thief

30:006

In the clefts of the valleys must they dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks

30:007

Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they are gathered together

30:008

They are children of churls, yea, children of ignoble men; they were scourged out of the land

30:009

And now I am become their song, yea, I am a byword unto them

30:010

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

30:011

For He hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, and they have cast off the bridle before me

30:012

Upon my right hand rise the brood; they entangle my feet, and they cast up against me their ways of destruction

30:013

They break up my path, they further my calamity, even men that have no helper

30:014

As through a wide breach they come; in the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me

30:015

Terrors are turned upon me, they chase mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away as a cloud

30:016

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

30:017

In the night my bones are pierced, and fall from me, and my sinews take no rest

30:018

By the great force of my disease is my garment disfigured; it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat

30:019

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

30:020

I cry unto Thee, and Thou dost not answer me; I stand up, and Thou lookest at me

30:021

Thou art turned to be cruel to me; with the might of Thy hand Thou hatest me

30:022

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

30:023

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

30:024

Surely none shall put forth his hand to a ruinous heap, neither because of these things shall help come in one's calamity

30:025

If I have not wept for him that was in trouble, and if my soul grieved not for the needy

30:026

Yet, when I looked for good, there came evil; and when I waited for light, there came darkness

30:027

Mine inwards boil, and rest not; days of affliction are come upon me

30:028

I go mourning without the sun; I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help

30:029

I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches

30:030

My skin is black, and falleth from me, and my bones are burned with heat

30:031

Therefore is my harp turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of them that weep