A reading from the Old Testament

Job 30:1-8

But now they hold me in derision who are younger in years than I; whose fathers I should have disdained to rank with the dogs of my flock. To me the strength of their hands meant nought; their vigor had perished through want and hunger. They fled to dry and barren ground, a land of waste and desolation. They plucked saltwort and shrubs; the roots of the broom plant were their food. They were banished from among men, with an outcry like that against a thief, to dwell on the slopes of the wadies, in caves of sand and stone; among the bushes they raised their raucous cry; under the nettles they huddled together. Irresponsible, nameless men, they were driven out of the land.