1 I naianei ia e kataina mai ana ahau e te hunga tamariki rawa i ahau, e te hunga kihai nei ahau i whakaae kia uru o ratou matua ki roto ki nga kuri o taku kahui.

“But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.

2 A e ra, hei aha maku te kaha o o ratou ringa? He hanga pirau nei hoki to ratou koroheketanga.

Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished?

3 T upuhi ana ratou i te rawakore, i te hemokai; e ngau ana ratou i te oneone pakapaka, i roto i te pouritanga o te tuhea, o te ururua.

They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.

4 E whawhaki ana ratou i nga marou i roto o nga rakau ririki; a ko nga pakiaka hunipa hei kai ma ratou.

They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom are their food.

5 H e mea pei atu ratou i roto i nga tangata; e karangarangatia ana ratou ano he tahae.

They are driven out from among men. They cry after them as after a thief;

6 M e noho rawa atu ratou i nga kapiti o nga awaawa, i nga waro o te whenua, i nga kamaka.

So that they dwell in frightful valleys, and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7 T angi a kaihe ana ratou i roto i nga rakau ririki; huihuia ana ratou ki raro i nga ongaonga.

Among the bushes they bray; and under the nettles they are gathered together.

8 H e tamariki ratou na nga kuware, ae ra, he tamariki na te hunga ingoakore; he hunga i patua atu i runga i te whenua.

They are children of fools, yes, children of base men. They were flogged out of the land.

9 I naianei ia kua waiho ahau hei waiata ma ratou, ae, hei whakatauki ma ratou.

“Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them.

10 E whakarihariha mai ana ratou ki ahau, e neke rawa atu ana i ahau, a kahore e kaiponuhia e ratou te huware ki toku mata.

They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, and don’t hesitate to spit in my face.

11 K ua oti hoki tana aho te wewete e ia, a e whakatupuria kinotia ana ahau e ia, a kua tukua e ratou te paraire i toku aroaro.

For he has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint before me.

12 I te taha ki matau ka ara te marea; taia ana e ratou oku waewae, a akina ana nga ara o a ratou whakangaromanga ki ahau.

On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet, They cast up against me their ways of destruction.

13 E taka kino ana ratou i toku ara, e whakatupu ana i te he moku, a kahore he hoa mahi mo ratou.

They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, without anyone’s help.

14 R ite tonu ki te wai nui e pakaru mai ana to ratou haerenga mai: i taua whakangaromanga nei, huri mai ana ratou ki runga ki ahau:

As through a wide breach they come, in the middle of the ruin they roll themselves in.

15 K ua tahuri mai nga whakawehi ki ahau, e aru ana ratou i toku whakaaro rangatira ano he hau; ko te whakahauora moku, pahemo ke ana ano he kapua.

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

16 N a inaianei kua maringi toku wairua i roto i ahau: mau pu ahau i nga ra o te tangi.

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

17 I te po e werohia ana oku wheua i roto i ahau; kahore hoki he okiokinga o nga mamae e ngau nei i ahau.

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

18 H e kaha nui no toku mate i ahua ke ai toku kakahu; e awhi nei i ahau, e penei ana me te whiri o toku koti.

By great force is my garment disfigured. It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

19 K ua maka ahau e ia ki te paru, kua rite ahau ki te puehu, ki te pungarehu.

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

20 E tangi ana ahau ki a koe, heoi kahore koe e whakao mai ki ahau; e tu ana, heoi ka titiro kau mai koe ki ahau.

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

21 K ua huri ke, kua kino tau mahi ki ahau: ko te kaha o tou ringa kei te tukino i ahau.

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

22 K ua hapainga ake ahau e koe ki te hau, a meinga ana tera e koe hei hoiho moku; a whakamotitia iho ahau e koe i roto i te tupuhi.

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

23 E mohio ana hoki ahau tera ahau e kawea e koe ki te mate, ki te whare hoki i whakaritea mo te hunga ora katoa.

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

24 E kore ano ia tona ringa e totoro iho ki te urupa; ahakoa hei mate mona ka mea ia ki te karanga, he whakaaro ki enei mea.

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

25 K ihai ianei ahau i tangi ki te tangata he mate nei tona? kihai ranei toku wairua i pouri ki te rawakore?

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

26 I ahau i tatari ai ki te pai, heoi kua tae mai te kino; tumanako atu ana ahau ki te marama, heoi kua tae mai te pouri.

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

27 K o oku whekau, me te mea e koropupu ana, te ata takoto; haukotia mai ana ahau e nga ra o te tangi.

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

28 E haereere pouri ana ahau, kahore he ra; ko taku whakatikanga ake i roto i te whakaminenga, ka karanga awhina.

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

29 H ei teina ahau ki nga tarakona, hei hoa mo nga ruru.

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

30 K o toku kiri mangu tonu, e ngahoro ana i ahau, kaia ana oku wheua i te wera.

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

31 N o reira i tahuri ke ai taku hapa ki te tangi, me taku okana ki te reo o te hunga e uhunga ana.

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