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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“And now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to 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 and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting at my face.

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

“Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, 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.

“On the right hand their brood arises; They thrust aside my feet and build 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 break up my path, They profit from my destruction; No one restrains them.

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

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

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

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

“At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains 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 a great force my garment is distorted; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

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

“He has cast me into the mire, And I have 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 out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.

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

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

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

“You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And You dissolve me in a 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 You will bring me to death And to the house of meeting for all living.

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

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

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

“Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? 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 expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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