Job 30:1-31 NCV

[1] "But now those who are younger than I make fun of me. I would not have even let their fathers sit with my sheep dogs. [2] What use did I have for their strength since they had lost their strength to work? [3] They were thin from hunger and wandered the dry and ruined land at night. [4] They gathered desert plants among the brush and ate the root of the broom tree. [5] They were forced to live away from people; people shouted at them as if they were thieves. [6] They lived in dried-up streambeds, in caves, and among the rocks. [7] They howled like animals among the bushes and huddled together in the brush. [8] They are worthless people without names and were forced to leave the land. [9] "Now they make fun of me with songs; my name is a joke among them. [10] They hate me and stay far away from me, but they do not mind spitting in my face. [11] God has taken away my strength and made me suffer, so they attack me with all their anger. [12] On my right side they rise up like a mob. They lay traps for my feet and prepare to attack me. [13] They break up my road and work to destroy me, and no one helps me. [14] They come at me as if through a hole in the wall, and they roll in among the ruins. [15] Great fears overwhelm me. They blow my honor away as if by a great wind, and my safety disappears like a cloud. [16] "Now my life is almost over; my days are full of suffering. [17] At night my bones ache; gnawing pains never stop. [18] In his great power God grabs hold of my clothing and chokes me with the collar of my coat. [19] He throws me into the mud, and I become like dirt and ashes. [20] "I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you just look at me. [21] You have turned on me without mercy; with your powerful hand you attacked me. [22] You snatched me up and threw me into the wind and tossed me about in the storm. [23] I know you will bring me down to death, to the place where all living people must go. [24] "Surely no one would hurt those who are ruined when they cry for help in their time of trouble. [25] I cried for those who were in trouble; I have been very sad for poor people. [26] But when I hoped for good, only evil came to me; when I looked for light, darkness came. [27] I never stop being upset; days of suffering are ahead of me. [28] I have turned black, but not by the sun. I stand up in public and cry for help. [29] I have become a brother to wild dogs and a friend to ostriches. [30] My skin has become black and peels off, as my body burns with fever. [31] My harp is tuned to sing a sad song, and my flute is tuned to moaning.