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

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

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

For, unto what might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom time was lost?

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

For want and famine they walked alone; fleeing into solitude, to the dark place, desolate and waste.

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

Who cut up mallows among the bushes and juniper roots for their food.

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

They were driven forth from among men (they cried after them as after a thief).

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

They dwelt in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.

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

Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

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

They were sons of fools and men without names; they were lower than the earth.

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

And now I am their song, and 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 distance themselves from me, and do not spare to spit in my face.

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

Because God has loosed my cord and afflicted me, they have also gone out of control before my face.

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

Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

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

They cast down my path, they took advantage of my calamity, against them there was no helper.

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

They came in as through a wide breach; they were stirred up because of my calamity.

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

¶ They have loosed terrors upon me; they fought my will as the wind and my saving health as a cloud that passes.

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

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

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

My bones pierce me in the night, and my sinews take no rest.

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

By the great force of my disease my garment is changed; it binds 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 has 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 dost not hear me; I present myself, and thou regardest me not.

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

Thou art become cruel to me; with the strength of thy hand thou dost hate me.

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

Thou didst lift me up and cause me to ride upon the wind, and didst dissolve my being.

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 dost conduct me unto death and to the house appointed 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?

But he will not stretch out his hand against the grave; do those who are buried cry out when he destroys them?

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

Did I not weep for the one that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

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

When I expected good, then evil came unto me; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

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

My bowels boil and do not rest; the days of affliction came upon me.

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

I went about darkened, but not by the sun; I stood up and cried out in the congregation.

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

I have become a brother to dragons and a companion to owls.

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

My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

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

My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep.