Job 30:1  "But no longer. Now I'm the butt of their jokes-- young ruffians! whippersnappers!

Job 30:2  Why, I considered their fathers mere inexperienced pups. But they are worse than dogs--good for nothing, stray, mangy animals,

Job 30:3  Half-starved, scavenging the back alleys, howling at the moon;

Job 30:4  Homeless guttersnipes chewing on old bones and licking old tin cans;

Job 30:5  Outcasts from the community, cursed as dangerous delinquents.

Job 30:6  Nobody would put up with them; they were driven from the neighborhood.

Job 30:7  You could hear them out there at the edge of town, yelping and barking, huddled in junkyards,

Job 30:8  A gang of beggars and no-names, thrown out on their ears.

Job 30:9  "But now I'm the one they're after, mistreating me, taunting and mocking.

Job 30:10  They abhor me, they abuse me. How dare those scoundrels--they spit in my face!

Job 30:11  Now that God has undone me and left me in a heap, they hold nothing back. Anything goes.

Job 30:12  They come at me from my blind side, trip me up, then jump on me while I'm down.

Job 30:13  They throw every kind of obstacle in my path, determined to ruin me-- and no one lifts a finger to help me!

Job 30:14  They violate my broken body, trample through the rubble of my ruined life.

Job 30:15  Terrors assault me-- my dignity in shreds, salvation up in smoke.

Job 30:16  "And now my life drains out, as suffering seizes and grips me hard.

Job 30:17  Night gnaws at my bones; the pain never lets up.

Job 30:18  I am tied hand and foot, my neck in a noose. I twist and turn.

Job 30:19  Thrown facedown in the muck, I'm a muddy mess, inside and out.

Job 30:20  "I shout for help, God, and get nothing, no answer! I stand to face you in protest, and you give me a blank stare!

Job 30:21  You've turned into my tormenter-- you slap me around, knock me about.

Job 30:22  You raised me up so I was riding high and then dropped me, and I crashed.

Job 30:23  I know you're determined to kill me, to put me six feet under.

Job 30:24  "What did I do to deserve this? Did I ever hit anyone who was calling for help?

Job 30:25  Haven't I wept for those who live a hard life, been heartsick over the lot of the poor?

Job 30:26  But where did it get me? I expected good but evil showed up. I looked for light but darkness fell.

Job 30:27  My stomach's in a constant churning, never settles down. Each day confronts me with more suffering.

Job 30:28  I walk under a black cloud. The sun is gone. I stand in the congregation and protest.

Job 30:29  I howl with the jackals, I hoot with the owls.

Job 30:30  I'm black and blue all over, burning up with fever.

Job 30:31  My fiddle plays nothing but the blues; my mouth harp wails laments.