Job Continues
Young People Now Insult Me
1Young people now insult me,
although their fathers
would have been a disgrace
to my sheep dogs.
2And those who insult me
are helpless themselves.
3They must claw the desert sand
in the dark for something
to satisfy their hunger.
4They gather tasteless shrubs
for food and firewood,
5and they are run out of towns,
as though they were thieves.
6Their only homes are ditches
or holes between rocks,
7where they bray like donkeys
gathering around shrubs.
8And like senseless donkeys
they are chased away.
Those Worthless Nobodies
9Those worthless nobodies
make up jokes and songs
to disgrace me.
10They are hateful
and keep their distance,
even while spitting
in my direction.
11God has destroyed me,
and so they don't care
what they do.
12Their attacks never stop,
though I am defenseless,
and my feet are trapped.
13Without any help,
they prevent my escape,
destroying me completely
14and leaving me crushed.
15Terror has me surrounded;
my reputation and my riches
have vanished like a cloud.
I Am Sick at Heart
16I am sick at heart!
Pain has taken its toll.
17Night chews on my bones,
causing endless torment,
18and God has shrunk my skin,
choking me to death.
19I have been thrown in the dirt
and now am dirt myself.
20I beg God for help,
but there is no answer;
and when I stand up,
he simply stares.
21God has turned brutal,
22stirring up a windstorm
to toss me about.
23Soon he will send me home
to the world of the dead,
where we all must go.
24No one refuses help to others,
when disaster strikes.
25I mourned for the poor
and those who suffered.
26But when I beg for relief
and light,
all I receive are disaster
and darkness.
27My stomach is tied in knots;
pain is my daily companion.
28My days are dark and gloomy
and in the city council
I stand and cry out,
29making mournful sounds
like jackals and owls.
30My skin is so parched,
that it peels right off,
and my bones are burning.
31My only songs are sorrow
and sadness.