Job

But 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.

1But now men younger than I am laugh at me. I would not have let their fathers work beside the dogs that guarded my sheep.

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

2What good to me was the strength of their hands? Their own strength was already worn out.

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

3They were thin from being poor and hungry. They wandered alone in dry land that was empty and ruined.

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

4They pulled up salty plants among the bushes. The roots of the broom bush were their food.

Note"Meat" in the KJV means food of any kind, not just animal meat. These are wild plants and roots eaten by people with nothing else.

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

5They were driven away from other people. Men shouted at them the way you shout at a thief.

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

6So they lived on the slopes of dry valleys, in holes in the ground, and among the rocks.

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

7They cried out among the bushes. They huddled together under the weeds.

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

8They were the children of foolish men, men with no name and no honor. They were driven off the land.

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

9And now those same people sing songs about me. My name is a joke they pass around.

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

10They hate me and keep far away from me. They do not hold back from spitting in my face.

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

11God has taken away my strength and brought me pain. So they have thrown off all restraint in front of me.

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

12This rough crowd comes at me from the right. They trip my feet and build ramps to attack me.

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

13They tear up the road in front of me. They make my ruin worse, and no one stops them.

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

14They come at me like water bursting through a wide hole in a wall. They roll in over the rubble.

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

15Terrors are let loose on me. My honor is blown away like wind, and my good life passes like a cloud.

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

16Now my life is draining out of me. Days of suffering have taken hold of me.

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

17At night the pain drills into my bones. The aching never rests.

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

18With great force God takes hold of my clothes. He grips me by the collar of my coat.

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

19He has thrown me into the mud. I have 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 out to you for help, God, but you do not answer. I stand up, and you only look at me.

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

21You have turned harsh toward me. You use your strong hand against me.

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

22You lift me up into the wind and make me ride on it. You toss me about in the storm.

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

23I know you will bring me down to death, to the house set aside for everyone who lives.

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

24Surely no one strikes a man who is already ruined, when he cries out in his trouble.

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

25Did I not weep for the person who was in trouble? Was I not sad for the poor?

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

26I hoped for good, but trouble came. I waited for light, but darkness came instead.

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

27Inside me everything churns and will not settle. Days of suffering have come upon me.

Note"Prevented" in 1611 English meant "came before" or "met me head on," not "stopped."

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

28I walk about dark with grief, and not from the sun. I stand up in the crowd and cry for help.

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

29I have become a brother to jackals and a friend to ostriches.

NoteThe KJV's "dragons" and "owls" are two desert animals, most likely jackals and ostriches. Both are known for loud, wailing cries.

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

30My skin has turned black and peels off. My bones burn with fever.

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

31My harp now plays only sad music. My flute sounds like the voice of people weeping.

Note"Organ" here means a simple pipe or flute, not the large instrument found in churches today.