Job’s Honor Turned to Contempt
“But now they mock me, Job 12:4Luk 23:35Psa 35:15-16Psa 69:122Ki 2:23Act 17:5Isa 3:5Job 19:13-19
men younger than I am,
whose fathers I would have refused
to entrust with my sheep dogs.
What use to me was the strength of their hands,
since their vigor had left them?
Gaunt from poverty and hunger, Job 24:5Heb 11:38Job 24:13-16
they gnawed the dry land,
and the desolate wasteland by night.
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, Luk 15:162Ki 4:38-39Amo 7:14
and the roots of the broom tree were their food. 1
They were banished from among men, Dan 4:25Dan 4:32-33Gen 4:12-14Psa 109:10
shouted down like thieves,
so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, 1Sa 22:1-2Jdg 6:2Isa 2:19Rev 6:15
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
They cried out among the shrubs Gen 16:12Job 11:12Job 6:5
and huddled beneath the nettles.
A senseless and nameless brood, Pro 16:22Isa 32:6Jer 7:18Job 40:4Mrk 6:24Pro 1:22Pro 1:72Ch 22:3
they were driven off the land.
And now they mock me in song; Job 17:6Lam 3:63Lam 3:14Job 12:4Psa 35:15-16Psa 69:11-12Psa 44:14
I have become a byword among them.
They abhor me and keep far from me; Isa 50:6Mat 26:67Num 12:14Psa 88:8Deu 25:9Mat 27:30Job 17:6Job 19:13-14
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, Job 12:21Job 12:18Rut 1:212Sa 16:5-8Jas 1:26Mat 26:67-68Mat 27:39-44Psa 32:9
they have cast off restraint 2in my presence.
The rabble arises at my right; Job 19:12Isa 3:5Job 19:18Psa 140:4-5
they lay snares for my feet
and build siege ramps against me.
They tear up my path; Isa 3:12Psa 69:26Zec 1:15
they profit from my destruction,
with no one to restrain them. 3
They advance as through a wide breach; Isa 8:7-8Job 22:16Psa 18:4Psa 69:14-15
through the ruins they keep rolling in.
Job’s Prosperity Becomes Calamity
Terrors are turned loose against me; Hos 13:3Job 6:4Isa 44:22Job 31:23Psa 55:4-5Psa 88:15Hos 6:4Job 10:16
they drive away my dignity as by the wind,
and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
And now my soul is poured out within me; Psa 42:4Psa 22:14Isa 53:12Job 3:24Psa 40:121Sa 1:15
days of affliction grip me.
Night pierces my bones, Isa 38:13Job 33:19-21Job 7:4Psa 22:2Psa 6:2-6Psa 38:2-8
and my gnawing pains never rest.
With great force He grasps my garment; 4 Job 19:20Job 2:7Job 7:5Isa 1:5-6Psa 38:5
He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
He throws me into the mud, Job 9:31Gen 18:27Job 42:6Psa 69:14Jer 38:6Psa 69:1-2Job 2:8
and I have become like dust and ashes.
I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; Job 19:7Lam 3:8Psa 22:2Psa 80:4-5Job 27:9Lam 3:44Mat 15:23
when I stand up, You merely look at me.
You have ruthlessly turned on me; Job 10:14-17Job 16:9-141Pe 5:6Job 10:3Job 19:6-9Jer 30:14Job 13:25-28Job 19:22
You oppose me with Your strong hand.
You snatch me up into the wind Job 27:21Psa 1:4Ezk 5:2Hos 13:3Hos 4:19Isa 17:13Jer 4:11-12Job 21:18
and drive me before it;
You toss me about 5in the storm.
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, Ecc 12:5-7Ecc 8:8Ecc 9:5Heb 9:272Sa 14:14Gen 3:19Job 14:5Job 21:33
to the place appointed for all the living.
Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man Jdg 5:31Job 19:7Mat 27:39-44Psa 35:25
when he cries for help in his distress.
Have I not wept for those in trouble? Rom 12:15Psa 35:13-14Jer 13:172Co 9:9Dan 4:27Isa 58:7-8Jer 18:20Jhn 11:35
Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
But when I hoped for good, evil came; Jer 8:15Jer 14:19Job 3:25-26Isa 50:10Job 18:6Job 19:8Job 23:17Mic 1:12
when I looked for light, darkness fell.
I am churning within and cannot rest; Lam 2:11Jer 31:20Jer 4:19Lam 1:20Psa 22:4
days of affliction confront me.
I go about blackened, but not by the sun. Psa 38:6Psa 42:9Psa 43:2Isa 53:3-4Job 19:7Lam 3:1-3
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
I have become a brother of jackals, 6 Mic 1:8Psa 102:6Job 17:14Mal 1:3Psa 44:19Isa 13:21-22Isa 38:14
a companion of ostriches. 7
My skin grows black and peels, Lam 4:8Psa 102:3Psa 119:83Lam 3:4Lam 5:10
and my bones burn with fever.
My harp is tuned to mourning Lam 5:15Isa 21:4Dan 6:18Ecc 3:4Isa 22:12Isa 24:7-9Psa 137:1-4
and my flute to the sound of weeping.