1 A nd now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock.

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

2 A lso -- the power of their hands, why to me? On them hath old age perished.

Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me? Men in whom ripe age is perished.

3 W ith want and with famine gloomy, Those fleeing to a dry place, Formerly a desolation and waste,

They are gaunt with want and famine; They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.

4 T hose cropping mallows near a shrub, And broom-roots their food.

They pluck salt-wort by the bushes; And the roots of the broom are their food.

5 F rom the midst they are cast out, (They shout against them as a thief),

They are driven forth from the midst of men; They cry after them as after a thief;

6 I n a frightful place of valleys to dwell, Holes of earth and clefts.

So that they dwell in frightful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7 A mong shrubs they do groan, Under nettles they are gathered together.

Among the bushes they bray; Under the nettles they are gathered together.

8 S ons of folly -- even sons without name, They have been smitten from the land.

They are children of fools, yea, children of base men; They were scourged out of the land.

9 A nd now, their song I have been, And I am to them for a byword.

And now I am become their song, Yea, I am a byword unto them.

10 T hey have abominated me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.

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

11 B ecause His cord He loosed and afflicteth me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.

For he hath loosed his cord, and afflicted me; And they have cast off the bridle before me.

12 O n the right hand doth a brood arise, My feet they have cast away, And they raise up against me, Their paths of calamity.

Upon my right hand rise the rabble; They thrust aside my feet, And they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

13 T hey have broken down my path, By my calamity they profit, `He hath no helper.'

They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, Even men that have no helper.

14 A s a wide breach they come, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.

As through a wide breach they come: In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.

15 H e hath turned against me terrors, It pursueth as the wind mine abundance, And as a thick cloud, Hath my safety passed away.

Terrors are turned upon me; They chase mine honor as the wind; And my welfare is passed away as a cloud.

16 A nd now, in me my soul poureth itself out, Seize me do days of affliction.

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

17 A t night my bone hath been pierced in me, And mine eyelids do not lie down.

In the night season my bones are pierced in me, And the pains that gnaw me take no rest.

18 B y the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it doth gird me.

By God's great force is my garment disfigured; It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

19 C asting me into mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.

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

20 I cry unto Thee, And Thou dost not answer me, I have stood, and Thou dost consider me.

I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me: I stand up, and thou gazest at me.

21 T hou art turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Thy hand, Thou oppresest me.

Thou art turned to be cruel to me; With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.

22 T hou dost lift me up, On the wind Thou dost cause me to ride, And Thou meltest -- Thou levellest me.

Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it; And thou dissolvest me in the storm.

23 F or I have known To death Thou dost bring me back, And the house appointed for all living.

For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.

24 S urely not against the heap Doth He send forth the hand, Though in its ruin they have safety.

Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?

25 D id not I weep for him whose day is hard? Grieved hath my soul for the needy.

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

26 W hen good I expected, then cometh evil, And I wait for light, and darkness cometh.

When I looked for good, then evil came; And when I waited for light, there came darkness.

27 M y bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Gone before me have days of affliction.

My heart is troubled, and resteth not; Days of affliction are come upon me.

28 M ourning I have gone without the sun, I have risen, in an assembly I cry.

I go mourning without the sun: I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

29 A brother I have been to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.

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

30 M y skin hath been black upon me, And my bone hath burned from heat,

My skin is black, and falleth from me, And my bones are burned with heat.

31 A nd my harp doth become mourning, And my organ the sound of weeping.

Therefore is my harp turned to mourning, And my pipe into the voice of them that weep.