1But 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 . 2Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished ? 3For want and famine they were solitary ; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste . 4Who cut up mallows by the bushes , and juniper roots for their meat . 5They were driven forth from among men , (they cried after them as after a thief ;) 6To dwell in the clifts of the valleys , in caves of the earth , and in the rocks . 7Among the bushes they brayed ; under the nettles they were gathered together . 8They were children of fools , yea, children of base men : they were viler than the earth . 9And now am I their song , yea, I am their byword . 10They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face . 11Because he hath loosed my cord , and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me. 12Upon my right hand rise the youth ; they push away my feet , and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction . 13They mar my path , they set forward my calamity , they have no helper . 14They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me . 15Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind : and my welfare passeth away as a cloud .
Job's Physical Afflictions
16And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. 17My bones are pierced in me in the night season : and my sinews take no rest . 18By the great force of my disease is my garment changed : 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 hear me: I stand up , and thou regardest me not . 21Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. 22Thou liftest me up to the wind ; thou causest me to ride upon it , and dissolvest my substance . 23For I know that thou wilt bring me to death , and to the house appointed for all living .
Job's Plea for Understanding
24Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave , though they cry in his destruction . 25Did not I weep for him that was in trouble ? was not my soul grieved for the poor ? 26When I looked for good , then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light , there came darkness . 27My bowels boiled , and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. 28I went mourning without the sun : I stood up , and I cried in the congregation . 29I am a brother to dragons , and a companion to owls . 30My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat . 31My harp also is turned to mourning , and my organ into the voice of them that weep .