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

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

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

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

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

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

Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

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

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

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

So that they dwell in dreadful valleys, 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 cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted 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 the right hand their brood arises; They thrust aside my feet and build 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 my path, They profit from my destruction; No one restrains them.

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, Amid the tempest they roll on.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

19 G od has thrown me into the mud, 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 away from me.

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

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

“You have become 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 to the wind and cause me to ride; And You dissolve me in a storm.

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 of meeting for all living.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“ I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront 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 mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

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

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

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

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

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

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