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Job’s Prosperity Becomes Calamity

In this part of Job’s speech, he uses sharp, sorrowful images to describe suffering that has overtaken his honour, body, prayer, and music. The passage is a lament, tracing affliction from inner pain to public mourning.

Job 30:15–31Older students and adultsWisdom and dialogue
A lamp and scroll beside a path, companion artwork for wisdom and teaching

Understanding the passage

Listening in context

These verses are Job’s own words about his present condition. He speaks of terror, bodily pain, humiliation, prayer that seems unanswered, the certainty of death, remembered compassion for others, and grief that now shapes both his public cry and his private sorrow.

Job 30:15–31

Main takeaway

Job 30:15–31 shows Job speaking honestly about suffering, unanswered cries, and mourning that has replaced former well-being.

Look closely at the words

Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.

01Honour and welfare swept awayJob begins with images of collapse. Terrors have turned on him, his honour is chased away like the wind, and his welfare passes like a cloud.

Explanation

Job begins with images of collapse. Terrors have turned on him, his honour is chased away like the wind, and his welfare passes like a cloud. He says his soul is poured out within him and days of affliction have taken hold of him. The language emphasises sudden loss and deep distress.

Job 30:15Job 30:16
02Pain, pressure, and humiliationJob then describes relentless bodily suffering. In the night his bones are pierced, and the pains that gnaw him do not rest.

Explanation

Job then describes relentless bodily suffering. In the night his bones are pierced, and the pains that gnaw him do not rest. His garment is disfigured and grips him tightly. He also says he has been cast into the mire and become like dust and ashes, expressing weakness and humiliation.

Job 30:17Job 30:18Job 30:19
03A cry to God under the shadow of deathJob addresses God directly. He cries out and says he is not answered. He says God gazes at him, has turned cruel, and persecutes him with mighty power.

Explanation

Job addresses God directly. He cries out and says he is not answered. He says God gazes at him, has turned cruel, and persecutes him with mighty power. Wind and storm picture how unstable he feels. Then Job says he knows he will be brought to death, the house appointed for all living.

Job 30:20Job 30:21Job 30:22Job 30:23
04Job remembers compassion and meets darknessJob argues that people cry for help in calamity, and he remembers his own grief for those in trouble and for the needy.

Explanation

Job argues that people cry for help in calamity, and he remembers his own grief for those in trouble and for the needy. Yet when he hoped for good, evil came, and when he waited for light, darkness came. His heart is troubled and does not rest as affliction continues.

Job 30:24Job 30:25Job 30:26Job 30:27
05Public mourning and joy reversedJob says he goes about mourning and stands in the assembly crying for help, showing that his suffering is not hidden.

Explanation

Job says he goes about mourning and stands in the assembly crying for help, showing that his suffering is not hidden. He compares himself with jackals and ostriches, images of lonely desolation. His skin blackens and peels, his bones burn with heat, and his music turns into mourning and weeping.

Job 30:28Job 30:29Job 30:30Job 30:31

Questions to explore

Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.

01What comparisons does Job use to show how quickly his honour and welfare have disappeared?

Notice the images of wind and a cloud, both showing something that passes away.

Job 30:15
02How does Job describe his appeal to God in these verses?

Look at the words about crying out, not being answered, being gazed at, and being driven like by wind and storm.

Job 30:20Job 30:21Job 30:22
03How do Job 30:28–31 show that Job’s sorrow affects both his public life and his body?

Observe his crying for help in the assembly, his comparison with desolate creatures, and the changes in his skin, bones, harp, and pipe.

Job 30:28Job 30:29Job 30:30Job 30:31

Read the Bible passage

World English Bible Classic

Scripture quotation · Public domain

Job 30:15–31

15Terrors have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.

16“Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold of me.

17In the night season my bones are pierced in me, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest.

18My garment is disfigured by great force. It binds me about as the collar of my tunic.

19He has cast me into the mire. I have become like dust and ashes.

20I cry to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.

21You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of your hand you persecute me.

22You lift me up to the wind, and drive me with it. You dissolve me in the storm.

23For I know that you will bring me to death, to the house appointed for all living.

24“However doesn’t one stretch out a hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?

25Didn’t I weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn’t my soul grieved for the needy?

26When I looked for good, then evil came. When I waited for light, darkness came.

27My heart is troubled, and doesn’t rest. Days of affliction have come on me.

28I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

29I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.

30My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.

31Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.

Source passages

Source: Job 30 ↗
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