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

2 Yea, whereto {should} the strength of their hands {profit} me, {men} in whom vigour hath perished?

3 Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert:

4 They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food.

5 They are driven forth from among {men} -they cry after them as after a thief-

6 To dwell in gloomy gorges, in caves of the earth and the rocks:

7 They bray among the bushes; under the brambles they are gathered together:

8 Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land.

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

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

11 For he hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me.

12 At {my} right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways;

13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them;

14 They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward.

15 Terrors are turned against me; they pursue mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away like a cloud.

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

17 The night pierceth through my bones {and detacheth them} from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest:

18 By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about as the collar of my coat.

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

20 I cry unto thee, and thou answerest me not; I stand up, and thou lookest at me.

21 Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me.

22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance.

23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living.

24 Indeed, no prayer {availeth} when he stretcheth out {his} hand: though they cry when he destroyeth.

25 Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?

26 For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.

27 My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me.

28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation.

29 I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion of ostriches.

30 My skin is become black {and falleth} off me, and my bones are parched with heat.

31 My harp also is {turned} to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers.

1 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 Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me?

Men in whom ripe age is perished.

3 They are gaunt with want and famine;

They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.

4 They pluck salt-wort by the bushes;

And the roots of the broom are their food.

5 They are driven forth from the midst of men;

They cry after them as after a thief;

6 So that they dwell in frightful valleys,

In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7 Among the bushes they bray;

Under the nettles they are gathered together.

8 They are children of fools, yea, children of base men;

They were scourged out of the land.

9 And now I am become their song,

Yea, I am a byword unto them.

10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me,

And spare not to spit in my face.

11 For he hath loosed his cord, and afflicted me;

And they have cast off the bridle before me.

12 Upon my right hand rise the rabble;

They thrust aside my feet,

And they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

13 They mar my path,

They set forward my calamity,

Even men that have no helper.

14 As through a wide breach they come:

In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.

15 Terrors are turned upon me;

They chase mine honor as the wind;

And my welfare is passed away as a cloud.

16 And now my soul is poured out within me;

Days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

17 In the night season my bones are pierced in me,

And the pains that gnaw me take no rest.

18 By God’s great force is my garment disfigured;

It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

19 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 stand up, and thou gazest at me.

21 Thou art turned to be cruel to me;

With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.

22 Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it;

And thou dissolvest me in the storm.

23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death,

And to the house appointed for all living.

24 Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall?

Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?

25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?

Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

26 When I looked for good, then evil came;

And when I waited for light, there came darkness.

27 My heart is troubled, and resteth not;

Days of affliction are come upon me.

28 I go mourning without the sun:

I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

29 I am a brother to jackals,

And a companion to ostriches.

30 My skin is black, and falleth from me,

And my bones are burned with heat.

31 Therefore is my harp turned to mourning,

And my pipe into the voice of them that weep.