1 But now, those younger than I mock me—people whose fathers I would have refused to place with my sheepdogs.

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

2 Even the strength of their hands is useless to me; their vigor has perished.

Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

3 They are gaunt from poverty and hunger; they gnaw the dry ground in desolate wastelands.

For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

4 They pluck salt herbs from the bush, and the roots of broom trees are their food.

Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

5 They are driven out from among society, and people shout at them as if they were thieves.

They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)

6 They dwell in the dry streambeds, in holes in the ground, and among the rocks.

To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.

7 Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together.

Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

8 They are sons of fools, nameless men, driven out from the land.

They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

9 And now I have become their taunt; I am a byword among them.

And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.

10 They detest me and keep far from me; they do not refrain from spitting in my face.

They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.

11 Because God has loosened my cord and afflicted me, they throw off all restraint in my presence.

Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.

12 On my right-hand side, the mob rises up; they push away my feet and build up their ways of destruction against me.

Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

13 They tear up my path; they help advance my ruin, even though no one comes to assist them.

They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.

14 They come in as through a wide breach; chaos rolls in like a wave under the crash of destruction.

They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

15 Terrors are turned upon me; they pursue my dignity like the wind, and my salvation has vanished like a cloud.

Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

16 And now my soul is poured out within me; days of suffering seize hold of me.

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

17 At night my bones are pierced within me, and my veins find no rest.

My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

18 With great force my garment is disfigured; it binds me like the collar of my tunic.

By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

19 He has cast me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.

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

20 I cry out to You, but You do not answer; I stand up, but You just look at me.

I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

21 You have turned cruel to me; with Your strong hand, You oppose me.

Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.

22 You lift me up and make me ride on the wind; You dissolve me in the storm.

Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.

23 I know You will bring me back to death, to the house appointed for all the living.

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

24 Surely one does not stretch out a hand in ruin or cry for help in disaster.

Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.

25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the needy?

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

26 But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came.

When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

27 My insides are in turmoil and never sit still; days of suffering confront me.

My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

28 I walk in mourning without sunlight; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.

29 I am a brother to jackals and a companion to ostriches.

I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

30 My skin grows black and peels off, and my bones burn with fever.

My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

31 My harp is turned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.

My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.