1But now they that are younger than I have me in derision , Whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock . 2Yea , the strength of their hands , whereto should it profit me ? Men in whom ripe age is perished. 3They are gaunt with want and famine ; They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation . 4They pluck salt-wort by the bushes ; And the roots of the broom are their food . 5They are driven forth from the midst of men ; They cry after them as after a thief ; 6So that they dwell in frightful valleys , In holes of the earth and of the rocks . 7Among the bushes they bray ; Under the nettles they are gathered together . 8They are children of fools , yea , children of base men ; They were scourged out of the land. 9And now I am become their song , Yea, I am a byword unto them . 10They abhor me , they stand aloof from me , And spare not to spit in my face . 11For he hath loosed his cord , and afflicted me ; And they have cast off the bridle before me . 12Upon my right hand rise the rabble; They thrust aside my feet , And they cast up against me their ways of destruction. 13They mar my path , They set forward my calamity , Even men that have no helper . 14As through a wide breach they come: In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me . 15Terrors are turned upon me ; They chase mine honor as the wind ; And my welfare is passed away as a cloud .
Job's Physical Afflictions
16And now my soul is poured out within me ; Days of affliction have taken hold upon me . 17In the night season my bones are pierced in me , And the pains that gnaw me take no rest . 18By God’s great force is my garment disfigured; It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat . 19He hath cast me into the mire , And I am become like dust and ashes . 20I cry unto thee , and thou dost not answer me : I stand up , and thou gazest at me . 21Thou art turned to be cruel to me ; With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me . 22Thou liftest me up to the wind , thou causest me to ride upon it ; And thou dissolvest me in the storm. 23For I know that thou wilt bring me to death , And to the house appointed for all living .
Job's Plea for Understanding
24Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help ? 25Did not I weep for him that was in trouble ? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? 26When I looked for good , then evil came ; And when I waited for light, there came darkness. 27My heart is troubled, and resteth not ; Days of affliction are come upon me . 28I go mourning without the sun : I stand up in the assembly , and cry for help . 29I am a brother to jackals , And a companion to ostriches . 30My skin is black , and falleth from me , And my bones are burned with heat . 31Therefore is my harp turned to mourning, And my pipe into the voice of them that weep .