Job 30:3-13

3 Half-starved, scavenging the back alleys, howling at the moon;

4 Homeless guttersnipes chewing on old bones and licking old tin cans;

5 Outcasts from the community, cursed as dangerous delinquents.

6 Nobody would put up with them; they were driven from the neighborhood.

7 You could hear them out there at the edge of town, yelping and barking, huddled in junkyards,

8 A gang of beggars and no-names, thrown out on their ears.

9 "But now I'm the one they're after, mistreating me, taunting and mocking.

10 They abhor me, they abuse me. How dare those scoundrels - they spit in my face!

11 Now that God has undone me and left me in a heap, they hold nothing back. Anything goes.

12 They come at me from my blind side, trip me up, then jump on me while I'm down.

13 They throw every kind of obstacle in my path, determined to ruin me - and no one lifts a finger to help me!

Job 30:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

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.