1 “ But now those younger than I mock me, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

2 “ Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them.

Yea, whereto the strength of their hands me, in whom vigour hath perished?

3 “ From want and famine they are gaunt Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,

Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert:

4 W ho pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food.

5 “ They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief,

They are driven forth from among —they cry after them as after a thief—

6 S o that they dwell in dreadful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

To dwell in gloomy gorges, in caves of the earth and the rocks:

7 “ Among the bushes they cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together.

They bray among the bushes; under the brambles they are gathered together:

8 “ Fools, even those without a name, They were scourged from the land.

Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land.

9 “ And now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to them.

And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword.

10 “ They abhor me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting at my face.

They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, yea, they spare not to spit in my face.

11 “ Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me.

For he hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me.

12 “ On the right hand their brood arises; They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction.

At right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways;

13 “ They break up my path, They profit from my destruction; No one restrains them.

They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them;

14 “ As through a wide breach they come, Amid the tempest they roll on.

They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward.

15 “ Terrors are turned against me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

Terrors are turned against me; they pursue mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away like a cloud.

16 “ And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me.

And now my soul is poured out in me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

17 “ At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains take no rest.

The night pierceth through my bones from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest:

18 “ By a great force my garment is distorted; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about as the collar of my coat.

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

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

20 “ I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.

I cry unto thee, and thou answerest me not; I stand up, and thou lookest at me.

21 “ You have become cruel to me; With the might of Your hand You persecute me.

Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me.

22 “ You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And You dissolve me in a storm.

Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance.

23 “ For I know that You will bring me to death And to the house of meeting for all living.

For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living.

24 “ Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help?

Indeed, no prayer when he stretcheth out hand: though they cry when he destroyeth.

25 “ Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?

26 “ When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came.

For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.

27 “ I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me.

My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me.

28 “ I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation.

29 “ I have become a brother to jackals And a companion of ostriches.

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

30 “ My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever.

My skin is become black off me, and my bones are parched with heat.

31 “ Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

My harp also is to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers.