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30:1  “But now I am the laughingstock of people who are younger than I, people whose fathers I would not have considered fit to put with the dogs guarding my flock.
30:2  Of what use to me was the strength of their hands? Their vigor had completely wasted away.
30:3  “Enfeebled by want and hunger, they gnawed roots in the wilderness, a gloomy place of dry and desolate ground.
30:4  They plucked saltwort and scrub for food, and they ate the roots of the broom tree.
30:5  Cast out from human society and berated as thieves and pursued,
30:6  they were forced to live on the sides of ravines, in holes in the ground, and in clefts of rock.
30:7  Among the bushes you could hear them braying, huddled together under the nettles.
30:8  They are a vile and irresponsible brood, driven as outcasts from society.
30:9  “And these are the ones who speak mockingly about me; my name is a byword among them.
30:10  They abhor me and keep their distance from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
30:11  And since God has loosened my bowspring and humbled me, they have ceased to have any restraint in my presence.
30:12  “The rabble attack in a mob on my right flank; they lay snares for my feet and raise their siege-ramps against me.
30:13  They advance through my crumbling defenses, blocking every means of escape, and no one restrains them.
30:14  They burst forward through a gaping breach and advance in waves.
30:15  Terrors surround me on all sides; my confidence disintegrates, and my hope of deliverance vanishes like a cloud.
30:16  “And now my life has begun to ebb away; my days are filled with grief and affliction.
30:17  During the night pain wracks my bones, and I suffer from ceaseless throbbing that allows me no respite.
30:18  God seizes my garment violently, grasping me by the collar of my tunic.
30:19  He has cast me into the mire, and I am covered with dust and ashes.
30:20  “I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer me; I stand before you, but you barely take notice.
30:21  You have turned with severity against me; with your strong hand you persecute me.
30:22  You lift me up and place me at the mercy of the wind, allowing me to be tossed about in the storm.
30:23  I know indeed that you will hand me over to death and to the place appointed for every living mortal.
30:24  “And yet should you not extend a hand to someone who pleads with you for help?
30:25  Did I not shed tears over the plight of the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the destitute?
30:26  Yet when I hoped for good, only evil came; when I looked for light, there was only darkness.
30:27  My inward parts are in constant pain, and days of affliction torment me.
30:28  “I walk about dejected and without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
30:29  I have become a brother to the jackal and a companion to the ostrich.
30:30  My skin has turned black and peels off my body, and my bones are scorched by heat.
30:31  My harp has been tuned to dirges, and my flute to the sounds of weeping.