King James Bible

International Standard Version

1But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

1"But now they mock me; men who are far younger than I, whose fathers I would have hated to entrust with my own sheep dogs.

2Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

2Furthermore, what could I have gained from men whose strength is gone?

3For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

3Unproductive due to poverty and hunger, they could only scratch in parched soil, devastated and desolated.

4Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

4"They would pluck off herbs from salt marshes to eat; and roots of the broom shrub for food.

5They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)

5Driven away from human company, they were shouted at as though they were thieves.

6To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.

6They lived in the most dangerous of ravines, in holes in the ground, and among rocks.

7Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

7They bray like donkeys among the bushes and huddle together under the desert weeds.

8They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

8Sons of fools and of uncertain reputation, they have been driven from the land by scourging."

9And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.

9"Now, I've become the object of their mocking melodies; I'm nothing but a fool's proverb to them!

10They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.

10They abhor me—they keep their distance from me; but they don't refrain from spitting at the sight of me.

11Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.

11But God has loosened his cord and afflicted me; so they've cast off all restraints in my presence.

12Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

12"A wretched crowd ambushes me to my right; they trip my feet; they build up their path of calamity for me.

13They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.

13They tear up my pathways; they profit from my destruction, and they need no help to do this!

14They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

14They come like those who breach through a wall; as everything crashes around me they'll roll on and on!

15Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

15My greatest fears have overcome me; my honor is assaulted as though by a wind storm; my prosperity evaporates like a morning cloud."

16And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

16"Now, my soul pours itself out; the time of my affliction has taken control of me.

17My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

17The night racks my bones; and the pain that gnaws on me will not rest.

18By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

18My clothes are disheveled by his forceful treatment of me; he restricts my movement like the collar of my cloak.

19He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.

19"He tossed me into the mire; I've become like dust and ashes.

20I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

20I cry for help to you, but you won't answer me; I stand still, but you only look at me.

21Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.

21You changed toward me, and now you're cruel to me; with your mighty hand you are persecuting me;

22Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.

22you carried me off in a wind storm, making me ride on it while you toss me about as the storm roars around me.

23For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

23I know that you're about to kill me, so I'm about to go to the house that's appointed for all the living."

24Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.

24"Surely he won't stretch his hand against the needy, will he, especially if they cry to him in their calamity?

25Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

25Haven't I wept for the one who is going through hard times? Haven't I grieved for the needy?

26When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

26I have hoped for good, but evil came instead; I have hoped for light, but darkness came.

27My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

27I'm boiling mad inside, and I won't remain silent; the time for my affliction to confront me has arrived.

28I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.

28"In growing darkness, I walked without sunlight; I stood in the congregation to cry for help.

29I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

29I've become a brother to jackals, and a friend to ostriches.

30My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

30My skin turns black all over me; and my bones seem burned from the heat.

31My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

31But my harp is in mourning; my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping." Job Asserts His Moral Innocence

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.