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 mock at me, men younger than I, 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 profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has 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 from want and famine, Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,

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 broom tree roots for their food.

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

They were driven out from among men, They shouted at them as at a thief.

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

They had to live in the clefts of the valleys, In caves of the earth and the rocks.

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

Among the bushes they brayed, Under the nettles they nestled.

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

They were sons of fools, Yes, sons of vile men; They were scourged from the land.

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

“And now I am their taunting song; Yes, I am their byword.

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

They abhor me, they keep far from me; They do not hesitate to spit in 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 my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off restraint 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.

At my right hand the rabble arises; They push away my feet, And they raise 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 promote my calamity; They have no helper.

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

They come as broad breakers; Under the ruinous storm they roll along.

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; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed 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 because of my plight; The days of affliction take hold of me.

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

My bones are pierced in me at night, 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 great force my garment is disfigured; 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, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me.

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

But You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You oppose 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 on it; You spoil my success.

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 living.

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

“Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins, If they cry out when He destroys it.

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 him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

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

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

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

My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest; 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, but not in the sun; 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 am a brother of 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 grows black and falls from me; My bones burn with fever.

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

My harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the voice of those who weep.