[1] Job Continues Young people now insult me, although their fathers would have been a disgrace to my sheep dogs. [2] And those who insult me are helpless themselves. [3] They must claw the desert sand in the dark for something to satisfy their hunger. [4] They gather tasteless shrubs for food and firewood, [5] and they are run out of towns, as though they were thieves. [6] Their only homes are ditches or holes between rocks, [7] where they bray like donkeys gathering around shrubs. [8] And like senseless donkeys they are chased away. [9] Those worthless nobodies make up jokes and songs to disgrace me. [10] They are hateful and keep their distance, even while spitting in my direction. [11] God has destroyed me, and so they don't care what they do. [12] Their attacks never stop, though I am defenseless, and my feet are trapped. [13] Without any help, they prevent my escape, destroying me completely [14] and leaving me crushed. [15] Terror has me surrounded; my reputation and my riches have vanished like a cloud. [16] I am sick at heart! Pain has taken its toll. [17] Night chews on my bones, causing endless torment, [18] and God has shrunk my skin, choking me to death. [19] I have been thrown in the dirt and now am dirt myself. [20] I beg God for help, but there is no answer; and when I stand up, he simply stares. [21] God has turned brutal, [22] stirring up a windstorm to toss me about. [23] Soon he will send me home to the world of the dead, where we all must go. [24] No one refuses help to others, when disaster strikes. [25] I mourned for the poor and those who suffered. [26] But when I beg for relief and light, all I receive are disaster and darkness. [27] My stomach is tied in knots; pain is my daily companion. [28] Suffering has scorched my skin, and in the city council I stand and cry out, [29] making mournful sounds like jackals and owls. [30] My skin is so parched, that it peels right off, and my bones are burning. [31] My only songs are sorrow and sadness.
