Job 30:16-31 ▼

16 |And now my soul pours itself out within me; days of suffering take hold of me.

17 Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never cease.

18 With great power God grasps my clothing; he binds me like the collar of my tunic.

19 He has flung me into the mud, and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.

20 I cry out to you, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you only look at me.

21 You have become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you attack me.

22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; you toss me about in the storm.

23 I know that you are bringing me to death, to the meeting place for all the living.

24 |Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.

25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came; when I expected light, then darkness came.

27 My heart is in turmoil unceasingly; the days of my affliction confront me.

28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.

30 My skin has turned dark on me; my body is hot with fever.

31 My harp is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.