| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1"But now they mock me; men who are far younger than I, whose fathers I would have hated to entrust with my own sheep dogs. | 1But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs. |
| 2Furthermore, what could I have gained from men whose strength is gone? | 2What use to me was the strength of their hands? Their vigor had left them. |
| 3Unproductive due to poverty and hunger, they could only scratch in parched soil, devastated and desolated. | 3Emaciated from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, the desolate wasteland by night. |
| 4"They would pluck off herbs from salt marshes to eat; and roots of the broom shrub for food. | 4They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food. |
| 5Driven away from human company, they were shouted at as though they were thieves. | 5They were expelled from human society; people shouted at them as if they were thieves. |
| 6They lived in the most dangerous of ravines, in holes in the ground, and among rocks. | 6They are living on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. |
| 7They bray like donkeys among the bushes and huddle together under the desert weeds. | 7They bray among the shrubs; they huddle beneath the thistles. |
| 8Sons of fools and of uncertain reputation, they have been driven from the land by scourging." | 8Foolish men, without even a name. They were forced to leave the land. |
| 9"Now, I've become the object of their mocking melodies; I'm nothing but a fool's proverb to them! | 9Now I am mocked by their songs; I have become an object of scorn to them. |
| 10They abhor me—they keep their distance from me; but they don't refrain from spitting at the sight of me. | 10They despise me and keep their distance from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. |
| 11But God has loosened his cord and afflicted me; so they've cast off all restraints in my presence. | 11Because God has loosened my bowstring and oppressed me, they have cast off restraint in my presence. |
| 12"A wretched crowd ambushes me to my right; they trip my feet; they build up their path of calamity for me. | 12The rabble rise up at my right; they trap my feet and construct their siege ramp against me. |
| 13They tear up my pathways; they profit from my destruction, and they need no help to do this! | 13They tear up my path; they contribute to my destruction, without anyone to help them. |
| 14They come like those who breach through a wall; as everything crashes around me they'll roll on and on! | 14They advance as through a gaping breach; they keep rolling in through the ruins. |
| 15My greatest fears have overcome me; my honor is assaulted as though by a wind storm; my prosperity evaporates like a morning cloud." | 15Terrors are turned loose against me; they chase my dignity away like the wind, and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud. |
| 16"Now, my soul pours itself out; the time of my affliction has taken control of me. | 16Now my life is poured out before my eyes, and days of suffering have seized me. |
| 17The night racks my bones; and the pain that gnaws on me will not rest. | 17Night pierces my bones, but my gnawing pains never rest. |
| 18My clothes are disheveled by his forceful treatment of me; he restricts my movement like the collar of my cloak. | 18My clothing is distorted with great force; He chokes me by the neck of my garment. |
| 19"He tossed me into the mire; I've become like dust and ashes. | 19He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes. |
| 20I cry for help to you, but you won't answer me; I stand still, but you only look at me. | 20I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; when I stand up, You merely look at me. |
| 21You changed toward me, and now you're cruel to me; with your mighty hand you are persecuting me; | 21You have turned against me with cruelty; You harass me with Your strong hand. |
| 22you carried me off in a wind storm, making me ride on it while you toss me about as the storm roars around me. | 22You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it; You scatter me in the storm. |
| 23I know that you're about to kill me, so I'm about to go to the house that's appointed for all the living." | 23Yes, I know that You will lead me to death-- the place appointed for all who live. |
| 24"Surely he won't stretch his hand against the needy, will he, especially if they cry to him in their calamity? | 24Yet no one would stretch out his hand against a ruined man when he cries out to him for help because of his distress. |
| 25Haven't I wept for the one who is going through hard times? Haven't I grieved for the needy? | 25Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my soul not grieved for the needy? |
| 26I have hoped for good, but evil came instead; I have hoped for light, but darkness came. | 26But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came. |
| 27I'm boiling mad inside, and I won't remain silent; the time for my affliction to confront me has arrived. | 27I am churning within and cannot rest; days of suffering confront me. |
| 28"In growing darkness, I walked without sunlight; I stood in the congregation to cry for help. | 28I walk about blackened, but not by the sun. I stood in the assembly and cried out for help. |
| 29I've become a brother to jackals, and a friend to ostriches. | 29I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches. |
| 30My skin turns black all over me; and my bones seem burned from the heat. | 30My skin blackens and flakes off, and my bones burn with fever. |
| 31But my harp is in mourning; my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping." Job Asserts His Moral Innocence | 31My lyre is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping. |
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