| International Standard Version | NET 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. | 1"But now they mock me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I disdained too much to put with my sheep dogs. |
| 2Furthermore, what could I have gained from men whose strength is gone? | 2Moreover, the strength of their hands--what use was it to me? Men whose strength had perished; |
| 3Unproductive due to poverty and hunger, they could only scratch in parched soil, devastated and desolated. | 3gaunt with want and hunger, they would gnaw the parched land, in former time desolate and waste. |
| 4"They would pluck off herbs from salt marshes to eat; and roots of the broom shrub for food. | 4By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes, and the root of the broom tree was their food. |
| 5Driven away from human company, they were shouted at as though they were thieves. | 5They were banished from the community--people shouted at them like they would shout at thieves-- |
| 6They lived in the most dangerous of ravines, in holes in the ground, and among rocks. | 6so that they had to live in the dry stream beds, in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks. |
| 7They bray like donkeys among the bushes and huddle together under the desert weeds. | 7They brayed like animals among the bushes and were huddled together under the nettles. |
| 8Sons of fools and of uncertain reputation, they have been driven from the land by scourging." | 8Sons of senseless and nameless people, they were driven out of the land with whips. |
| 9"Now, I've become the object of their mocking melodies; I'm nothing but a fool's proverb to them! | 9"And now I have become their taunt song; I have become a byword among them. |
| 10They abhor me—they keep their distance from me; but they don't refrain from spitting at the sight of me. | 10They detest me and maintain their distance; 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 untied my tent cord and afflicted me, people throw off all 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. | 12On my right the young rabble rise up; they drive me from place to place, and build up siege ramps against me. |
| 13They tear up my pathways; they profit from my destruction, and they need no help to do this! | 13They destroy my path; they succeed in destroying me without anyone assisting them. |
| 14They come like those who breach through a wall; as everything crashes around me they'll roll on and on! | 14They come in as through a wide breach; amid the crash they come rolling in. |
| 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 on me; they drive away my honor like the wind, and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away. |
| 16"Now, my soul pours itself out; the time of my affliction has taken control of me. | 16"And now my soul pours itself out within me; days of suffering take hold of me. |
| 17The night racks my bones; and the pain that gnaws on me will not rest. | 17Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never cease. |
| 18My clothes are disheveled by his forceful treatment of me; he restricts my movement like the collar of my cloak. | 18With great power God grasps my clothing; he binds me like the collar of my tunic. |
| 19"He tossed me into the mire; I've become like dust and ashes. | 19He has flung me into the mud, and I have come to resemble 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, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you only look at me. |
| 21You changed toward me, and now you're cruel to me; with your mighty hand you are persecuting me; | 21You have become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you attack me. |
| 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 pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; you toss me about 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." | 23I know that you are bringing me to death, to the meeting place for all the living. |
| 24"Surely he won't stretch his hand against the needy, will he, especially if they cry to him in their calamity? | 24"Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken man when he cries for help in 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 the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? |
| 26I have hoped for good, but evil came instead; I have hoped for light, but darkness came. | 26But when I hoped for good, trouble came; when I expected light, then darkness came. |
| 27I'm boiling mad inside, and I won't remain silent; the time for my affliction to confront me has arrived. | 27My heart is in turmoil unceasingly; the days of my affliction confront me. |
| 28"In growing darkness, I walked without sunlight; I stood in the congregation to cry for help. | 28I go about blackened, but not by the sun; in the assembly I stand up and cry 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 has turned dark on me; my body is hot with fever. |
| 31But my harp is in mourning; my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping." Job Asserts His Moral Innocence | 31My harp is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping. |
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