1 “ But now those who are younger than I make fun of me. I thought so little of their fathers that I did not want them with my sheep dogs.

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

2 Y es, what good could I get from the strength of their hands? Their strength was gone.

Yes, how could the strength of their hands profit me? They were men whose ripe age and vigor had perished.

3 T heir bodies are thin and in need of food. At night they bite the dry ground in the waste land.

They are gaunt with want and famine; they gnaw the dry and barren ground or flee into the wilderness, into the gloom of wasteness and desolation.

4 T hey pick plants that taste of salt among the bushes. And they eat the root of the broom bush.

They pluck saltwort or mallows among the bushes, and roots of the broom for their food or to warm them.

5 T hey are driven away from people. Men call out against them as if they were robbers.

They are driven from among men, who shout after them as after a thief.

6 S o they live in valleys made by floods, in caves of the earth and of the rocks.

They must dwell in the clefts of frightful valleys (gullies made by torrents) and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7 A mong the bushes they cry out. They gather together under the thistles.

Among the bushes they bray and howl; beneath the prickly scrub they fling themselves and huddle together.

8 T hey are fools and they have no name. They have been driven out of the land.

Sons of the worthless and nameless, they have been scourged and crushed out of the land.

9 “ Now they make fun of me in song. They laugh at me.

And now I have become their song; yes, I am a byword to them.

10 T hey hate me and keep away from me, but they spit in my face.

They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, and do not refrain from spitting in my face or at the sight of me.

11 B ecause God has made the string of my bow loose and has troubled me, they have thrown off their respect for me.

For God has loosed my bowstring and afflicted and humbled me; they have cast off the bridle before me.

12 T heir bad group comes to my right. They push me away and trip my feet, and make ways to destroy me.

On my right hand rises the rabble brood; they jostle me and push away my feet, and they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

13 T hey break up my path. They make trouble for me, and no one stops them.

They break up and clutter my path; they urge on my calamity, even though they have no helper.

14 T hey come as if through a wide hole in the wall, and roll on with much noise.

As through a wide breach they come in; amid the crash they roll themselves upon me.

15 F ears come upon me. They go after my honor like the wind. And my well-being has passed away like a cloud.

Terrors are turned upon me; my honor and reputation they chase away like the wind, and my welfare has passed away as a cloud.

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

And now my life is poured out within me; the days of affliction have gripped me.

17 N ight cuts into my bones with pain. The pain keeps on and takes no rest.

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

18 M y clothing is torn by a strong power. It pulls against me like the top of my coat.

By the great force my garment is disguised and disfigured; it binds me about like the collar of my coat.

19 G od has thrown me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

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 away from me.

I cry to You, and You do not answer me; I stand up, but You gaze at me.

21 Y ou work against me. With the power of Your hand you make it hard for me.

You have become harsh and cruel to me; with the might of Your hand You persecute me.

22 Y ou lift me up to the wind and make it carry me. You throw me around in the storm.

You lift me up on the wind; You cause me to ride upon it, and You toss me about in the tempest.

23 F or I know that You will bring me to death, to the place for all the living.

For I know that You will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all the living.

24 “ Yet does not one in a destroyed place put out his hand, and in his trouble cry out for help?

However, does not one falling in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand? Or in his calamity will he not therefore cry for help?

25 H ave I not cried for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul filled with sorrow for the poor?

Did not I weep for him who was in trouble? Was not my heart grieved for the poor and needy?

26 W hen I expected good, then trouble came. When I waited for light, darkness came.

But when I looked for good, then evil came to me; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

27 M y heart is troubled and does not rest. Days of trouble are before me.

My heart is troubled and does not rest; days of affliction come to meet me.

28 I go about full of sorrow without comfort. I stand up where the people are gathered and cry out for help.

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

29 I have become a brother to wild dogs, and a friend of ostriches.

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

30 M y skin becomes black and falls from me. My bones burn because I am sick.

My skin falls from me in blackened flakes, and my bones are burned with heat.

31 S o my harp is turned to sorrow, and my horn to the sound of crying.

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