But now they that are younger than I have me in derision,
Whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me?
Men in whom {Or, vigor}ripe age is perished.
They are gaunt with want and famine;
{Or, They flee into the wilderness, into &c.}They gnaw the dry ground, {Or, which yesternight was Or, on the eve of}in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.
They pluck salt-wort by the bushes;
And the roots of the broom are {Or, to warm them}their food.
They are driven forth from the midst of men;
They cry after them as after a thief;
So that they dwell in frightful valleys,
In holes of the earth and of the rocks.
Among the bushes they bray;
Under the {Or, wild vetches}nettles they {Or, stretch themselves}are gathered together.
They are children of fools, yea, children of {Hebrew: men of no name.}base men;
They {Or, are outcasts from the land}were scouraged out of the land.
And now I am become their song,
Yea, I am a byword unto them.
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me,
And spare not to spit {Or, at the sight of me}in my face.
For he hath loosed {According to another reading, my cord (or, bowstring).}his cord, and afflicted me;
And they have cast off the bridle before me.
Upon my right hand rise the {Or, brood}rabble;
They thrust aside my feet,
And they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
They {Or, break up}mar my path,
They set forward my calamity,
Even men that have no helper.
{Or, As a wide breaking in of waters}As through a wide breach they come:
In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.
Terrors are turned upon me;
{Or, Thou chasest}They chase {Or, my nobility}mine honor as the wind;
And my welfare is passed away as a cloud.
And now my soul is poured out {Hebrew: upon.}within me;
Days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
In the night season my bones are {Or, corroded and drop away from me}pierced {Hebrew: from off.}in me,
And {Or, my sinews take &c.}the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
By God's great force is my garment disfigured;
It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
He hath cast me into the mire,
And I am become like dust and ashes.
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me:
I stand up, and thou gazest at me.
Thou art turned to be cruel to me;
With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.
Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it;
And thou dissolvest me in the storm.
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death,
And {Or, the house of meeting for &c.}to the house appointed for all living.
Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall?
Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
When I looked for good, then evil came;
And when I waited for light, there came darkness.
My heart is troubled, and resteth not;
Days of affliction are come upon me.
I go {Or, blackened, but not by the sun}mourning without the sun:
I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
I am a brother to jackals,
And a companion to ostriches.
My skin is black, and falleth from me,
And my bones are burned with heat.
Therefore is my harp turned to mourning,
And my pipe into the voice of them that weep.
Querverweise zu Hiob 30,10 Hiob 30,10
All {Hebrew: the men of my council.}my familiar friends abhor me,And they whom I loved are turned against me.
He hath put my brethren far from me,And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
And Jehovah said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut up without the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.
Wherefore I {Or, loathe my words}abhor myself,And repent in dust and ashes.
My kinsfolk have failed,And my familiar friends have forgotten me.
then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his brother's house.
Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me;Thou hast made me an abomination unto them:I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me;Thou hast made me an abomination unto them:I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
All the brethren of the poor do hate him:How much more do his friends go far from him! {Or, he pursueth after words, which are nought}He pursueth them with words, but they are gone.
Then did they spit in his face and buffet him: and some smote him {Or, with rods}with the palms of their hands,
But all this is come to pass, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him, and fled.
And they spat upon him, and took the reed and smote him on the head.