Job’s Honor Turned to Contempt 1 DBY But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. 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 DBY Yea, whereto should the strength of their hands profit me, men in whom vigour hath perished? BSB BSB: What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
3 DBY Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert: BSB BSB: Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
4 DBY They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food. BSB BSB: They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 DBY They are driven forth from among men — they cry after them as after a thief — BSB BSB: They were banished from among men, shouted at like thieves,
6 DBY To dwell in gloomy gorges, in caves of the earth and the rocks: BSB BSB: so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 DBY They bray among the bushes; under the brambles they are gathered together: BSB BSB: They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
8 DBY Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land. BSB BSB: A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
9 DBY And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword. BSB BSB: And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10 DBY They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, yea, they spare 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 DBY For he hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me. BSB BSB: Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12 DBY At my right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways; BSB BSB: The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
13 DBY They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them; BSB BSB: They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
14 DBY They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward. BSB BSB: They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
Job’s Prosperity Becomes Calamity 15 DBY Terrors are turned against me; they pursue mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away like 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 DBY And now my soul is poured out in me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me. BSB BSB: And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
17 DBY The night pierceth through my bones and detacheth them from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest: BSB BSB: Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
18 DBY By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about 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 DBY He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. BSB BSB: He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 DBY I cry unto thee, and thou answerest me not; I stand up, and thou lookest at 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 DBY Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me. BSB BSB: You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
22 DBY Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance. BSB BSB: You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.
23 DBY For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living. BSB BSB: Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
24 DBY Indeed, no prayer availeth when he stretcheth out his hand: though they cry when he destroyeth. BSB BSB: Yet no one stretches out his hand against a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
25 DBY Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy? BSB BSB: Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
26 DBY For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness. BSB BSB: But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
27 DBY My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me. BSB BSB: I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
28 DBY I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation. BSB BSB: I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 DBY I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion of ostriches. BSB BSB: I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
30 DBY My skin is become black and falleth off me, and my bones are parched with heat. BSB BSB: My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
31 DBY My harp also is turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers. 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.