NET Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1"But now they mock me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I disdained too much to put with my sheep dogs.

1"But now those younger than I mock me, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

2Moreover, the strength of their hands--what use was it to me? Men whose strength had perished;

2"Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them.

3gaunt with want and hunger, they would gnaw the parched land, in former time desolate and waste.

3"From want and famine they are gaunt Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,

4By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes, and the root of the broom tree was their food.

4Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

5They were banished from the community--people shouted at them like they would shout at thieves--

5"They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief,

6so that they had to live in the dry stream beds, in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.

6So that they dwell in dreadful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7They brayed like animals among the bushes and were huddled together under the nettles.

7"Among the bushes they cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together.

8Sons of senseless and nameless people, they were driven out of the land with whips.

8"Fools, even those without a name, They were scourged from the land.

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

9"And now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to them.

10They detest me and maintain their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

10"They abhor me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting at my face.

11Because God has untied my tent cord and afflicted me, people throw off all restraint in my presence.

11"Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me.

12On my right the young rabble rise up; they drive me from place to place, and build up siege ramps against me.

12"On the right hand their brood arises; They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction.

13They destroy my path; they succeed in destroying me without anyone assisting them.

13"They break up my path, They profit from my destruction; No one restrains them.

14They come in as through a wide breach; amid the crash they come rolling in.

14"As through a wide breach they come, Amid the tempest they roll on.

15Terrors are turned loose on me; they drive away my honor like the wind, and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

15"Terrors are turned against me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

16"And now my soul pours itself out within me; days of suffering take hold of me.

16"And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me.

17Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never cease.

17"At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains take no rest.

18With great power God grasps my clothing; he binds me like the collar of my tunic.

18"By a great force my garment is distorted; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

19He has flung me into the mud, and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.

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

20I cry out to you, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you only look at me.

20"I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.

21You have become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you attack me.

21"You have become cruel to me; With the might of Your hand You persecute me.

22You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; you toss me about in the storm.

22"You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And You dissolve me in a storm.

23I know that you are bringing me to death, to the meeting place for all the living.

23"For I know that You will bring me to death And to the house of meeting for all living.

24"Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.

24"Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help?

25Have I not wept for the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

25"Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

26But when I hoped for good, trouble came; when I expected light, then darkness came.

26"When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came.

27My heart is in turmoil unceasingly; the days of my affliction confront me.

27"I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me.

28I go about blackened, but not by the sun; in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

28"I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

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

29"I have become a brother to jackals And a companion of ostriches.

30My skin has turned dark on me; my body is hot with fever.

30"My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever.

31My harp is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.

31"Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. //netbible.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org