King James Bible

New Living Translation

1But 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.

1“But now I am mocked by people younger than I, by young men whose fathers are not worthy to run with my sheepdogs.

2Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

2A lot of good they are to me— those worn-out wretches!

3For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

3They are gaunt from poverty and hunger. They claw the dry ground in desolate wastelands.

4Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

4They pluck wild greens from among the bushes and eat from the roots of broom trees.

5They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)

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

6To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.

6So now they live in frightening ravines, in caves and among the rocks.

7Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

7They sound like animals howling among the bushes, huddled together beneath the nettles.

8They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

8They are nameless fools, outcasts from society.

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

9“And now they mock me with vulgar songs! They taunt me!

10They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.

10They despise me and won’t come near me, except to spit in my face.

11Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.

11For God has cut my bowstring. He has humbled me, so they have thrown off all restraint.

12Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

12These outcasts oppose me to my face. They send me sprawling and lay traps in my path.

13They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.

13They block my road and do everything they can to destroy me. They know I have no one to help me.

14They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

14They come at me from all directions. They jump on me when I am down.

15Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

15I live in terror now. My honor has blown away in the wind, and my prosperity has vanished like a cloud.

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

16“And now my life seeps away. Depression haunts my days.

17My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

17At night my bones are filled with pain, which gnaws at me relentlessly.

18By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

18With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt. He grips me by the collar of my coat.

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

19He has thrown me into the mud. I’m nothing more than dust and ashes.

20I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

20“I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look.

21Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.

21You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me.

22Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.

22You throw me into the whirlwind and destroy me in the storm.

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

23And I know you are sending me to my death— the destination of all who live.

24Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.

24“Surely no one would turn against the needy when they cry for help in their trouble.

25Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

25Did I not weep for those in trouble? Was I not deeply grieved for the needy?

26When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

26So I looked for good, but evil came instead. I waited for the light, but darkness fell.

27My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

27My heart is troubled and restless. Days of suffering torment me.

28I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.

28I walk in gloom, without sunlight. I stand in the public square and cry for help.

29I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

29Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals and a companion to owls.

30My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

30My skin has turned dark, and my bones burn with fever.

31My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

31My harp plays sad music, and my flute accompanies those who weep.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.