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Job 29-30
GOD’S WORD Translation
Job 29-30
GOD’S WORD Translation
Job Continues: My Glorious Past
29 Job continued his poems and said,
2 “If only my life could be like it used to be,
in the days when God watched over me,
3 when he made his lamp shine on my head,
when I walked through the dark in his light.
4 If only I were in the prime of my life ⌞again⌟,
when God was an adviser in my tent.
5 When the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,
6 my steps were bathed in buttermilk,
and the rocks poured streams of olive oil on me.
7 When I went through the city gate
and took my seat in the town square,
8 young men saw me and kept out of sight.
Old men stood up straight out of respect ⌞for me⌟.
9 Princes held back ⌞their⌟ words
and put their hands over their mouths.
10 The voices of nobles were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
11 “⌞Any⌟ ears that heard me blessed me.
⌞Any⌟ eyes that saw me spoke well of me,
12 because I rescued the poor who called ⌞for help⌟
and the orphans who had no one to help them.
13 I received a blessing from the dying.
I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it was my clothing.
I practiced justice, and it was my robe and my turban.
15 I was eyes for the blind person.
I was feet for the lame person.
16 I was father to the needy.
I carefully investigated cases brought by strangers.
17 I broke the teeth of the wicked person
and made him drop the prey out of his mouth.
18 “I thought, ‘I may die in my own house,
but I will make my days as numerous as the sand.
19 My roots will grow toward the water,
and dew will lie on my branches all night.
20 My power will be fresh ⌞every day⌟,
and the bow in my hand will remain new.’
21 “People listened to me eagerly,
quietly waiting for my advice.
22 After I had spoken, they wouldn’t speak again.
After all, my words fell gently on them.
23 They were as eager to hear me as they were for rain.
They opened their mouths wide as if waiting for a spring shower.
24 When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it,
but the expression on my face did not change.
25 I decided how they should live.
I sat as their leader.
I lived like a king among his troops,
like one who comforts mourners.
Job Talks about His Present Misery
30 “But now those who are younger than I am laugh at me.
I didn’t think their fathers were fit to sit with the dogs of my flock.
2 Of what use to me was the strength of their hands?
Their strength is gone.
3 Shriveled up from need and hunger,
they gnaw at the dry and barren ground during the night.
4 They pick saltwort from the underbrush,
and the roots of the broom plant are their food.[a]
5 They are driven from the community.
People shout at them in the same way they shout at thieves.
6 They have to live in dry riverbeds,
in holes in the ground, and among rocks.
7 They howl in bushes
and huddle together under thornbushes.
8 Godless fools and worthless people
are forced out of the land with whips.
9 “And now they make fun of me with songs.
I have become a joke to them.
10 Since they consider me disgusting, they keep their distance from me
and don’t hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because God has untied my cord and has made me suffer,
they are no longer restrained in my presence.
12 They have attacked me on my right side like a mob.
They trip my feet
and then prepare ways to destroy me.
13 Yes, they remove all traces of my path in order to destroy me.
No one is there to help me against them.
14 They come through a wide hole ⌞in the wall⌟.
They crawl through the ruins.
15 Terrors are directed toward me.
They blow away my dignity like the wind.
My prosperity vanishes like a cloud.
16 “Now my life is pouring out of me.
Days of suffering seize me.
17 At night God pierces my bones.
My body doesn’t rest.
18 With great strength he grabs my clothes.
He seizes me by the collar of my robe.
19 He throws me into the dirt
so that I become like dust and ashes.
Job Calls on God for Help
20 “I call to you for help,
but you don’t answer me.
I stand up, but you just look at me.
21 You have begun to treat me cruelly.
With your mighty hand you assault me.
22 You pick me up and let the wind carry me away.
You toss me around with a storm.
23 I know you will lead me to death,
to the dwelling place appointed for all living beings.
Job Says: I Am Being Punished by God
24 “But God doesn’t stretch out his hand against one who is ruined
when that person calls for help in his disaster.
25 Didn’t I cry for the person whose days were difficult?
Didn’t my soul grieve for the poor?
26 When I waited for good, evil came.
When I looked for light, darkness came.
27 My insides are churning and won’t calm down.
Days of misery are ahead of me.
28 I walk in the dark without the sun.
I stand up in public and call for help.
29 I’m a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin turns dark and peels.
My body burns with fever.
31 So my lyre is used for mourning
and my flute for loud weeping.
Footnotes
- 30:4 Or “they use the roots of the broom plant for warmth.”
Job 29-30
New International Version
Job 29-30
New International Version
Job’s Final Defense
29 Job continued his discourse:(A)
2 “How I long for the months gone by,(B)
for the days when God watched over me,(C)
3 when his lamp shone on my head
and by his light I walked through darkness!(D)
4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
when God’s intimate friendship(E) blessed my house,(F)
5 when the Almighty was still with me
and my children(G) were around me,(H)
6 when my path was drenched with cream(I)
and the rock(J) poured out for me streams of olive oil.(K)
7 “When I went to the gate(L) of the city
and took my seat in the public square,
8 the young men saw me and stepped aside(M)
and the old men rose to their feet;(N)
9 the chief men refrained from speaking(O)
and covered their mouths with their hands;(P)
10 the voices of the nobles were hushed,(Q)
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.(R)
11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me commended me,(S)
12 because I rescued the poor(T) who cried for help,
and the fatherless(U) who had none to assist them.(V)
13 The one who was dying blessed me;(W)
I made the widow’s(X) heart sing.
14 I put on righteousness(Y) as my clothing;
justice was my robe and my turban.(Z)
15 I was eyes(AA) to the blind
and feet to the lame.(AB)
16 I was a father to the needy;(AC)
I took up the case(AD) of the stranger.(AE)
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked
and snatched the victims(AF) from their teeth.(AG)
18 “I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.(AH)
19 My roots will reach to the water,(AI)
and the dew will lie all night on my branches.(AJ)
20 My glory will not fade;(AK)
the bow(AL) will be ever new in my hand.’(AM)
21 “People listened to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my counsel.(AN)
22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;(AO)
my words fell gently on their ears.(AP)
23 They waited for me as for showers
and drank in my words as the spring rain.(AQ)
24 When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
the light of my face(AR) was precious to them.[a](AS)
25 I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;(AT)
I dwelt as a king(AU) among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.(AV)
30 “But now they mock me,(AW)
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.(AX)
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?
3 Haggard from want and hunger,
they roamed[b] the parched land(AY)
in desolate wastelands(AZ) at night.(BA)
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,(BB)
and their food[c] was the root of the broom bush.(BC)
5 They were banished from human society,
shouted at as if they were thieves.
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.(BD)
7 They brayed(BE) among the bushes(BF)
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood,(BG)
they were driven out of the land.(BH)
9 “And now those young men mock me(BI) in song;(BJ)
I have become a byword(BK) among them.
10 They detest me(BL) and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.(BM)
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow(BN) and afflicted me,(BO)
they throw off restraint(BP) in my presence.
12 On my right(BQ) the tribe[d] attacks;
they lay snares(BR) for my feet,(BS)
they build their siege ramps against me.(BT)
13 They break up my road;(BU)
they succeed in destroying me.(BV)
‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;(BW)
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Terrors(BX) overwhelm me;(BY)
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.(BZ)
16 “And now my life ebbs away;(CA)
days of suffering grip me.(CB)
17 Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.(CC)
18 In his great power(CD) God becomes like clothing to me[e];
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud,(CE)
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.(CF)
20 “I cry out to you,(CG) God, but you do not answer;(CH)
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;(CI)
with the might of your hand(CJ) you attack me.(CK)
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;(CL)
you toss me about in the storm.(CM)
23 I know you will bring me down to death,(CN)
to the place appointed for all the living.(CO)
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man(CP)
when he cries for help in his distress.(CQ)
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?(CR)
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?(CS)
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.(CT)
27 The churning inside me never stops;(CU)
days of suffering confront me.(CV)
28 I go about blackened,(CW) but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.(CX)
29 I have become a brother of jackals,(CY)
a companion of owls.(CZ)
30 My skin grows black(DA) and peels;(DB)
my body burns with fever.(DC)
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,(DD)
and my pipe(DE) to the sound of wailing.
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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