Job 30

1 "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.

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.

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.

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.

Job 30 Commentary

Chapter 30

Job's honour is turned into contempt. (1-14) Job a burden to himself. (15-31)

Verses 1-14 Job contrasts his present condition with his former honour and authority. What little cause have men to be ambitious or proud of that which may be so easily lost, and what little confidence is to be put in it! We should not be cast down if we are despised, reviled, and hated by wicked men. We should look to Jesus, who endured the contradiction of sinners.

Verses 15-31 Job complains a great deal. Harbouring hard thoughts of God was the sin which did, at this time, most easily beset Job. When inward temptations join with outward calamities, the soul is hurried as in a tempest, and is filled with confusion. But woe be to those who really have God for an enemy! Compared with the awful state of ungodly men, what are all outward, or even inward temporal afflictions? There is something with which Job comforts himself, yet it is but a little. He foresees that death will be the end of all his troubles. God's wrath might bring him to death; but his soul would be safe and happy in the world of spirits. If none pity us, yet our God, who corrects, pities us, even as a father pitieth his own children. And let us look more to the things of eternity: then the believer will cease from mourning, and joyfully praise redeeming love.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 30

Job in this chapter sets forth his then unhappy state and condition, in contrast with his former state of prosperity described in the preceding chapter: things had taken a strange turn, and were just the reverse of what they were before; he that was before in such high esteem and credit with all sorts of men, young and old, high and low, rich and poor, now is had in derision by the meanest and basest of men, whose characters are described, Job 30:1-8; and the instances of their contempt of him by words and gestures are given, Job 30:9-14; he who enjoyed so much ease of mind, and health of body, is now filled with distresses of soul, and bodily diseases, Job 30:15-19; and he who enjoyed so much of the presence of God, and communion with him, and of his love and favour, was now disregarded, and, as he thought, cruelly used by him, who not only had destroyed his substance, but was about to bring him to the grave, Job 30:20-24; all which came upon him, though he had a sympathizing heart with the poor, and them that were in trouble, and when he expected better things, Job 30:25-28; and he close the chapter, lamenting his sad and sorrowful circumstances, Job 30:29-31.