Job’s Honor Turned to Contempt 1 Brenton But now the youngest have laughed me to scorn, now they reprove me in their turn, whose fathers I set at nought; whom I did not deem worthy to be with my shepherd dogs. BSB BSB: “But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.
2 Brenton Yea, why had I the strength of their hands? for them the full term of life was lost. BSB BSB: What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
3 Brenton One is childless in want and famine, such as they that fled but lately the distress and misery of drought.BSB BSB: Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
4 Brenton Who compass the salt places on the sounding shore , who had salt herbs for their food, and were dishonourable and of no repute, in want of every good thing; who also ate roots of trees by reason of great hunger. BSB BSB: They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 Brenton Thieves have risen up against me, BSB BSB: They were banished from among men, shouted at like thieves,
6 Brenton whose houses were the caves of the rocks, who lived under the wild shrubs. BSB BSB: so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 Brenton They will cry out among the rustling bushes . BSB BSB: They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
8 Brenton They are sons of fools and vile men, whose name and glory are quenched from off the earth.BSB BSB: A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
9 Brenton But now I am their music, and they have me for a by-word. BSB BSB: And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10 Brenton And they stood aloof and abhorred me, and spared not to spit in my face. BSB BSB: They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Brenton For he has opened his quiver and afflicted me: they also have cast off the restraint of my presence. BSB BSB: Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12 Brenton They have risen up against me on the right hand of their offspring; they have stretched out their foot, and directed against me the ways of their destruction. BSB BSB: The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
13 Brenton My paths are ruined; for they have stripped off my raiment: he has shot at me with his weapons. BSB BSB: They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
14 Brenton And he has pleaded against me as he will: I am overwhelmed with pains. BSB BSB: They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
Job’s Prosperity Becomes Calamity 15 Brenton My pains return upon me ; my hope is gone like the wind, and my safety as a cloud. BSB BSB: Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16 Brenton Even now my life shall be poured forth upon me; and days of anguish seize me. BSB BSB: And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
17 Brenton And by night my bones are confounded; and my sinews are relaxed. BSB BSB: Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
18 Brenton With great force my disease has taken hold of my garment: it has compassed me as the collar of my coat. BSB BSB: With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
19 Brenton And thou hast counted me as clay; my portion is in dust and ashes. BSB BSB: He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 Brenton And I have cried to thee, but thou hearest me not: but they stood still, and observed me. BSB BSB: I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.
21 Brenton They attacked me also without mercy: thou hast scourged me with a strong hand. BSB BSB: You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
22 Brenton And thou hast put me to grief, and hast cast me away from safety. BSB BSB: You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.
23 Brenton For I know that death will destroy me: for the earth is the house appointed for every mortal. BSB BSB: Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
24 Brenton Oh then that I might lay hands upon myself, or at least ask another, and he should do this for me. BSB BSB: Yet no one stretches out his hand against a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
25 Brenton Yet I wept over every helpless man; I groaned when I saw a man in distress. BSB BSB: Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
26 Brenton But I, when I waited for good things, behold, days of evils came the more upon me. BSB BSB: But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
27 Brenton My belly boiled, and would not cease: the days of poverty prevented me. BSB BSB: I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
28 Brenton I went mourning without restraint: and I have stood and cried out in the assembly. BSB BSB: I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 Brenton I am become a brother of monsters, and a companion of ostriches. BSB BSB: I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
30 Brenton And my skin has been greatly blackened, and my bones are burned with heat. BSB BSB: My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
31 Brenton My harp also has been turned into mourning, and my song into my weeping. BSB BSB: My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.