men younger than I am,
whose fathers I would have refused to put
with my sheep dogs.
2 What use to me was the strength of their hands?
Their vigor had left them.
3 Emaciated from poverty and hunger,
they gnawed the dry land,
the desolate wasteland by night.
4 They plucked mallow G,t among the shrubs,
and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 They were banished from human society;
people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
6 They are living on the slopes of the wadis,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
they huddle beneath the thistles.
8 Foolish u men, without even a name.
They were forced to leave the land.
9 Now I am mocked by their songs; v
I have become an object of scorn to them.
10 They despise me and keep their distance from me; w
they do not hesitate to spit x in my face.
11 Because God has loosened my H bowstring and oppressed me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence. y
12 The rabble I rise up at my right;
they trap J my feet
and construct their siege ramp K against me. z
they contribute to my destruction, a
without anyone to help them.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;
they keep rolling in through the ruins. b
15 Terrors c are turned loose against me;
they chase my dignity away like the wind,
and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.
16 Now my life is poured out before me,
and days of suffering d have seized me.
but my gnawing pains never rest. e
18 My clothing is distorted with great force;
he chokes me by the neck of my garment. L
and I have become like dust and ashes. f
20 I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me; g
when I stand up, you merely look at me.
21 You have turned against me with cruelty;
you harass h me with your strong hand.
22 You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it;
you scatter me in the storm. i
23 Yes, I know that you will lead me to death—
the place j appointed for all who live.
24 Yet no one would stretch out his hand
against a ruined person M
when he cries out to him for help
because of his distress. k
25 Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?
Has my soul not grieved for the needy? l
26 But when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, darkness m came.
27 I am churning within N and cannot rest;
days of suffering confront me.
28 I walk about blackened, but not by the sun. O
I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin blackens and flakes off, P
and my bones burn with fever. n
31 My lyre is used for mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping. o