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Job 30-31
Common English Bible
Job 30-31
Common English Bible
Mockers
30 But now those younger than I mock me,
whose fathers I refused to put beside my sheepdogs.
2 Their strength, what’s it to me,
their energy having perished?
3 Stiff from want and hunger,
those who gnaw dry ground,
yesterday’s desolate waste,
4 who pluck off the leaves on a bush,
the root of the broom—
a shrub is their food.
5 People banish them from society,
shout at them as if to a thief;
6 so they live in scary ravines,
holes in the ground and rocks.
7 Among shrubs, they make sounds like donkeys;
they are huddled together under a bush,
8 children of fools and the nameless,
whipped out of the land.
Specific mocking behavior
9 And now I’m their song;
I’m their cliché!
10 They detest me, keep their distance,
don’t withhold spit from my face.
11 Because he loosened my bowstring and afflicted me,
they throw off restraint in my presence.
12 On the right, upstarts[a] rise and target my feet,
build their siege ramps against me,
13 destroy my road, profit from my fall,
with no help.
14 They advance as if through a destroyed wall;[b]
they roll along beneath the ruin.
15 Terrors crash upon me;
they sweep away my honor like wind;
my safety disappears like a cloud.
Accusation against God
16 Now my life is poured out on me;
days of misery have seized me.
17 At night he bores my bones;
my gnawing pain won’t rest.
18 With great force he grasps[c] my clothing;[d]
it binds me like the neck of my shirt.
19 He hurls me into mud;
I’m a cliché, like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you, and you don’t answer;
I stand up, but you just look at me.
21 You are cruel to me,
attack me with the strength of your hand.
22 You lift me to the wind and make me ride;
you melt me in its roar.
23 I know you will return me to death,
the house appointed for all the living.
Job’s agony
24 Surely he won’t strike someone in ruins
if in distress he cries out to him,
25 if I didn’t weep for those who have a difficult day
or my soul grieve for the needy;
26 for I awaited good, but evil came;
I expected light, but gloom arrived.
27 My insides, churning, are never quiet;
days of affliction confront me.
28 I walk in the dark, lacking sunshine;
I rise in the assembly and cry out.
29 I have become a brother to jackals,
a companion to young ostriches.
30 My skin is charred;
my bones are scorched by the heat.
31 My lyre is for mourning,
my flute, a weeping sound.
Lust
31 I’ve made a covenant with my eyes;
how could I look at a virgin?
2 What is God’s portion for me[e] from above,
the Almighty’s inheritance from on high?
3 Isn’t it disaster for the wicked,
destruction for workers of iniquity?
4 Doesn’t he see my ways,
count all my steps?
Deceit
5 If I have walked with frauds
or my feet have hurried to deceit,
6 let him weigh me on accurate scales;
let God know my integrity.
7 If my step has turned from the way,
if my heart has followed my eyes
or a blemish has clung to my hands,
8 then let me sow and another reap;
let my offspring be uprooted.
Adultery
9 If my heart has been drawn to a woman
and I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 then may my wife grind for another
and others kneel over her;
11 for that’s a crime;
it’s a punishable offense;
12 indeed, it’s a fire that consumes to the underworld,[f]
uprooting all my harvest.
Slaves
13 If I’ve rejected the just cause of my male or female servant
when they contended with me,
14 what could I do when God rises;
when he requires an account, what could I answer?
15 Didn’t the one who made me in the belly make them;
didn’t the same one fashion us in the womb?
The defenseless
16 If I have denied what the poor wanted,
made a widow’s eyes tired,
17 eaten my morsel alone,
and not shared any with an orphan
(18 for from my youth I raised the orphan as a father,
and from my mother’s womb I led the widow);[g]
19 if I ever saw someone dying without clothes, the needy naked;
20 if they haven’t blessed me fervently,[h]
or if they weren’t warmed by the wool from my sheep;
21 if I have lifted my hand against the orphans,
when I saw that I had help in the city gate—
22 may my arm fall from my shoulder,
my forearm be broken at the elbow—
23 for God’s calamity is terror to me;
I couldn’t endure his splendor.
False worship
24 If I’ve made gold my trust,
said to fine gold: “My security!”
25 if I’ve rejoiced because my wealth was great,
when my hand found plenty;
26 if I’ve looked at the sun when it shone,
the moon, splendid as it moved;
27 and my mind has been secretly enticed,
and threw a kiss with my hand,
28 that also is a punishable offense,
because I would then be disloyal to God above.
Others' misfortune
29 If I have rejoiced over my foes’ ruin
or was excited when evil found them,
30 I didn’t let my mouth sin
by asking for their life with a curse.
31 Surely those in my tent never said:
“Who has been filled by Job’s food?”
32 A stranger didn’t spend the night in the street;
I opened my doors to the road.
Concealing sin
33 If I have hidden my transgressions like Adam,[i]
concealing my offenses inside me
34 because I feared the large crowd;
the clan’s contempt frightened me;
I was quiet and didn’t venture outside.
Sealing the solemn pledge
35 Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
Here’s my signature;[j]
let the Almighty respond,
and let my accuser write an indictment.
36 Surely I would bear it on my shoulder,
tie it around me like a wreath.
37 I would give him an account of my steps,
approach him like a prince.
Abuse of the land
38 If my land has cried out against me,
its rows wept together;
39 if I have eaten its yield without payment
and caused its owners grief,
40 may briars grow instead of wheat,
poisonous weeds instead of barley.
Job’s words are complete.
Job 30-31
New International Version
Job 30-31
New International Version
30 “But now they mock me,(A)
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.(B)
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[a] the parched land(C)
in desolate wastelands(D) at night.(E)
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,(F)
and their food[b] was the root of the broom bush.(G)
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.(H)
7 They brayed(I) among the bushes(J)
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood,(K)
they were driven out of the land.(L)
9 “And now those young men mock me(M) in song;(N)
I have become a byword(O) among them.
10 They detest me(P) and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.(Q)
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow(R) and afflicted me,(S)
they throw off restraint(T) in my presence.
12 On my right(U) the tribe[c] attacks;
they lay snares(V) for my feet,(W)
they build their siege ramps against me.(X)
13 They break up my road;(Y)
they succeed in destroying me.(Z)
‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;(AA)
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Terrors(AB) overwhelm me;(AC)
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.(AD)
16 “And now my life ebbs away;(AE)
days of suffering grip me.(AF)
17 Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.(AG)
18 In his great power(AH) God becomes like clothing to me[d];
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud,(AI)
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.(AJ)
20 “I cry out to you,(AK) God, but you do not answer;(AL)
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;(AM)
with the might of your hand(AN) you attack me.(AO)
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;(AP)
you toss me about in the storm.(AQ)
23 I know you will bring me down to death,(AR)
to the place appointed for all the living.(AS)
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man(AT)
when he cries for help in his distress.(AU)
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?(AV)
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?(AW)
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.(AX)
27 The churning inside me never stops;(AY)
days of suffering confront me.(AZ)
28 I go about blackened,(BA) but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.(BB)
29 I have become a brother of jackals,(BC)
a companion of owls.(BD)
30 My skin grows black(BE) and peels;(BF)
my body burns with fever.(BG)
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,(BH)
and my pipe(BI) to the sound of wailing.
31 “I made a covenant with my eyes(BJ)
not to look lustfully at a young woman.(BK)
2 For what is our lot(BL) from God above,
our heritage from the Almighty on high?(BM)
3 Is it not ruin(BN) for the wicked,
disaster(BO) for those who do wrong?(BP)
4 Does he not see my ways(BQ)
and count my every step?(BR)
5 “If I have walked with falsehood
or my foot has hurried after deceit(BS)—
6 let God weigh me(BT) in honest scales(BU)
and he will know that I am blameless(BV)—
7 if my steps have turned from the path,(BW)
if my heart has been led by my eyes,
or if my hands(BX) have been defiled,(BY)
8 then may others eat what I have sown,(BZ)
and may my crops be uprooted.(CA)
9 “If my heart has been enticed(CB) by a woman,(CC)
or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 then may my wife grind(CD) another man’s grain,
and may other men sleep with her.(CE)
11 For that would have been wicked,(CF)
a sin to be judged.(CG)
12 It is a fire(CH) that burns to Destruction[e];(CI)
it would have uprooted my harvest.(CJ)
13 “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,(CK)
whether male or female,
when they had a grievance against me,(CL)
14 what will I do when God confronts me?(CM)
What will I answer when called to account?(CN)
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?(CO)
Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?(CP)
16 “If I have denied the desires of the poor(CQ)
or let the eyes of the widow(CR) grow weary,(CS)
17 if I have kept my bread to myself,
not sharing it with the fatherless(CT)—
18 but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
and from my birth I guided the widow(CU)—
19 if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,(CV)
or the needy(CW) without garments,
20 and their hearts did not bless me(CX)
for warming them with the fleece(CY) from my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,(CZ)
knowing that I had influence in court,(DA)
22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let it be broken off at the joint.(DB)
23 For I dreaded destruction from God,(DC)
and for fear of his splendor(DD) I could not do such things.(DE)
24 “If I have put my trust in gold(DF)
or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’(DG)
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,(DH)
the fortune my hands had gained,(DI)
26 if I have regarded the sun(DJ) in its radiance
or the moon(DK) moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed(DL)
and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,(DM)
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,(DN)
for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.(DO)
29 “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune(DP)
or gloated over the trouble that came to him(DQ)—
30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by invoking a curse against their life(DR)—
31 if those of my household have never said,
‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’(DS)—
32 but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
for my door was always open to the traveler(DT)—
33 if I have concealed(DU) my sin as people do,[f]
by hiding(DV) my guilt in my heart
34 because I so feared the crowd(DW)
and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
that I kept silent(DX) and would not go outside—
35 (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!(DY)
I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser(DZ) put his indictment in writing.
36 Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,(EA)
I would put it on like a crown.(EB)
37 I would give him an account of my every step;(EC)
I would present it to him as to a ruler.(ED))—
38 “if my land cries out against me(EE)
and all its furrows are wet(EF) with tears,
39 if I have devoured its yield without payment(EG)
or broken the spirit of its tenants,(EH)
40 then let briers(EI) come up instead of wheat
and stinkweed(EJ) instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.(EK)
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.