25I CHOSE WAY THEIR SO I MAY SIT [AS] CHIEF SO I MAY DWELL LIKE A KING AMONG THE TROOP[S] JUST AS MOURNERS SOMEONE COMFORTS 25I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners. [’’]
1AND NOW THEY HAVE LAUGHED ON ME [PEOPLE] YOUNG MORE THAN ME TO DAYS WHOM I REJECTED FATHERS THEIR TO PUT WITH [THE] DOGS OF FLOCK MY Job’s Honor Turned to Contempt 1“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.
2ALSO [THE] STRENGTH OF HANDS THEIR <TO> WHY? TO <THE> ME ON THEM IT HAD PERISHED VIGOR 2What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
3IN POVERTY AND IN HUNGER BARREN THE [ONES WHO] GNAW A DRY REGION YESTERDAY OF RUIN AND DESOLATION 3Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
4THOSE [WHO] PLUCK OFF MALLOW ON BUSH[ES] AND [THE] ROOT OF BROOM PLANTS [FOR] FOOD THEIR 4They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.*NoteCloseOr their fuel
5FROM [THE] COMMUNITY THEY ARE DRIVEN AWAY PEOPLE SHOUT ON THEM LIKE <THE> THIEF 5They were banished from among men, shouted at like thieves,
6ON [THE] SLOPE OF WADIS TO DWELL HOLES OF [THE] GROUND AND ROCKS 6so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7BETWEEN BUSHES THEY BRAY UNDER NETTLE[S] THEY ARE JOINED TOGETHER 7They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
8SONS OF A FOOL ALSO SONS OF NOT A NAME THEY HAVE BEEN SCOURGED FROM THE LAND 8A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
9AND NOW TAUNT SONG THEIR I HAVE BECOME AND I HAVE BECOME FOR THEM <INTO> A WORD 9And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10THEY ABHOR ME THEY ARE DISTANT FROM ME AND FROM FACE MY NOT THEY HAVE WITHHELD SPITTLE 10They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11FOR STRING MY HE HAS LOOSENED AND HE HAS AFFLICTED ME AND [THE] HALTER FROM BEFORE ME THEY HAVE SENT AWAY 11Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint*NoteCloseHebrew the bridle in my presence.
12ON [THE] RIGHT [SIDE] A BROOD THEY ARISE FEET MY THEY HAVE SENT AWAY AND THEY HAVE PILED UP ON ME [THE] PATHS OF DISASTER THEIR 12The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.
13THEY HAVE TORN DOWN PATHWAY MY TO DESTRUCTION MY THEY BENEFIT NOT A HELPER [BELONGS] TO THEM 13They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.*NoteCloseOr with no one to assist them
14LIKE A BREACH WIDE THEY COME UNDER DEVASTATION THEY HAVE ROLLED THEMSELVES 14They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
15IT HAS BEEN TURNED ON ME SUDDEN TERROR<S> IT PURSUES LIKE THE WIND DIGNITY MY AND LIKE A CLOUD IT HAS PASSED AWAY PROSPERITY MY Job’s Prosperity Becomes Calamity 15Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16AND NOW ON ME IT POURS ITSELF OUT LIFE MY THEY SEIZE ME DAYS OF AFFLICTION 16And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.
17NIGHT BONES MY HE HAS PIERCED FROM ON <THE> ME AND GNAWING [PAINS] MY NOT THEY REST! 17Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
18WITH GREATNESS OF STRENGTH IT DISGUISES ITSELF CLOTHING MY LIKE [THE] MOUTH OF TUNIC MY HE GIRDS ABOUT ME 18With great force He grasps my garment;*NoteCloseLXX; Hebrew He becomes like a garment to me or my garment is disfigured He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
19HE HAS THROWN ME TO THE MUD AND I HAVE BECOME LIKE LIKE <THE> DUST AND ASH[ES] 19He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
20I CRY FOR HELP TO YOU AND NOT YOU ANSWER ME I HAVE STOOD AND YOU HAVE CONSIDERED CAREFULLY <IN> ME 20I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.
21YOU CHANGE YOURSELF INTO [ONE] CRUEL TO ME WITH [THE] MIGHT OF HAND YOUR YOU ARE HOSTILE TO ME 21You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
22YOU LIFT UP ME TO [THE] WIND YOU MAKE RIDE ME AND YOU DISSOLVE ME SUCCESS 22You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about*NoteCloseOr You dissolve me in the storm.
23FOR I KNOW DEATH YOU WILL BRING ME AND A HOUSE OF APPOINTED MEETING FOR EVERY LIVING [THING] 23Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
24SURELY NOT ON A HEAP OF RUINS ANYONE STRETCHES OUT A HAND OR IN DISASTER HIS TO THEM A CRY FOR HELP 24Yet no one stretches out his hand against a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
25<IF>? NOT DID I WEEP FOR [THE] HARD OF DAY WAS IT GRIEVED? SELF MY FOR THE NEEDY [PERSON] 25Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
26IF GOOD I WAITED FOR AND IT CAME EVIL AND I WAITED FOR LIGHT AND IT CAME DARKNESS 26But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
27INWARD PARTS MY THEY HAVE BEEN MADE TO BOIL AND NOT THEY HAVE BEEN STILL THEY HAVE CONFRONTED ME DAYS OF AFFLICTION 27I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.
28BEING DARK I HAVE GONE ABOUT WITH NOT SUN I HAVE STOOD IN THE ASSEMBLY I CRY OUT FOR HELP 28I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29A BROTHER I HAVE BECOME OF JACKALS AND A COMPANION OF DAUGHTERS OF AN OSTRICH 29I have become a brother of jackals,*NoteCloseOr serpents or dragons a companion of ostriches.*NoteCloseLiterally of daughters of an ostrich or of daughters of an owl
30SKIN MY IT HAS BECOME BLACK FROM ON <THE> ME AND BONE MY IT HAS BURNED FROM HEAT 30My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
31AND IT HAS BECOME <INTO> MOURNING HARP MY AND FLUTE MY <INTO> [THE] SOUND OF WEEPERS 31My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping. [’’]