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 who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.

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

Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished?

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

They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.

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

They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. 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 out from among 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, and 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; and 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, yes, children of base men. They were flogged out of the land.

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

“Now I have become their song. Yes, I am 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, they stand aloof from me, and don’t hesitate 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 has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint 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 my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet, 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, without anyone’s help.

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

As through a wide breach they come, in the middle of the ruin they roll themselves in.

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 have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.

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

“Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold on 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 great force is my garment disfigured. 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. 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 to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.

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

You have turned to be 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 drive me with it. You dissolve 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 you will bring me to death, 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.

“However doesn’t one stretch out a 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.

Didn’t I weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn’t 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; 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 doesn’t rest. Days of affliction have come on 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 grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.

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

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