Job’s Honor Turned to Contempt 1 ULT But now the fewer in days than me laugh at me, whose fathers I disdained to put 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 ULT Indeed, the strength of their hands, for what{ is it} to me? In them old age has perished. BSB BSB: What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
3 ULT { They are} gaunt from poverty and from hunger, ones gnawing the dry land yesterday{ in} waste and desolation, BSB BSB: Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
4 ULT ones plucking mallow among the brush, and the root of broom trees{ is} their bread. BSB BSB: They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 ULT They are driven out from the midst; they shout after them as{ after} a thief, BSB BSB: They were banished from among men, shouted at like thieves,
6 ULT to dwell on the slope of wadis,{ in} holes of the dust and rocks. BSB BSB: so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 ULT Among the shrubs they bray; they are gathered together under thorn bushes. BSB BSB: They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
8 ULT Sons of a fool, indeed, sons of{ one} without a name! They are scourged from the land. BSB BSB: A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
9 ULT But now I have become their song, and I am a word for them. BSB BSB: And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10 ULT They abhor me, they stay away from me, but from my face they do not withhold spit. BSB BSB: They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 ULT For he has loosed my cord and humbled me, so they cast away restraint from my face. BSB BSB: Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12 ULT On{ my} right the brood arise; they thrust aside my foot, and they pile up roads of destruction against me. BSB BSB: The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
13 ULT They destroy my path, they advance my calamity;{ there is} no help for them. BSB BSB: They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
14 ULT As{ through} a wide breach they come; amid the ruin they roll on. BSB BSB: They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
Job’s Prosperity Becomes Calamity 15 ULT Terrors are turned against me;{ each} one pursues my dignity like the wind, and my deliverance passes 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 ULT And now my life pours itself out within me; days of affliction seize me. BSB BSB: And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
17 ULT Night pierces my bones from upon me, and the ones gnawing me do not rest. BSB BSB: Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
18 ULT By great force my clothing is changed; it binds me like the collar of my tunic. BSB BSB: With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
19 ULT He has thrown me into the mud, 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 ULT I cry to you, but you do not answer me; I stand, but you gaze 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 ULT You have changed to{ be} cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you attack me. BSB BSB: You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
22 ULT You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about{ in} a storm. BSB BSB: You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.
23 ULT For I know you are bringing me{ to} death and{ to} the house of appointment to all the living. BSB BSB: Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
24 ULT Nevertheless, does not one in a heap stretch out a hand? If in his trouble he does{ not} therefore cry out? BSB BSB: Yet no one stretches out his hand against a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
25 ULT If I did not weep for the difficult of day? 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 ULT For I hoped{ for} good, but bad came, and let me wait for light, but darkness comes. BSB BSB: But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
27 ULT My innards are boiled and they do not rest; days of affliction confront me. BSB BSB: I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
28 ULT I go about being dark not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry out. BSB BSB: I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 ULT I have become a brother to jackals and a companion to the daughters of clamor. BSB BSB: I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
30 ULT My skin is black from upon me, and my bone burns from heat. BSB BSB: My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
31 ULT So my harp is to mourning and my flute to the sound of ones 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.