| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1"But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained 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. |
| 2Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them? | 2"Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them. |
| 3Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night. | 3"From want and famine they are gaunt Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation, |
| 4In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom bush. | 4Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub. |
| 5They were banished from human society, shouted at as if they were thieves. | 5"They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief, |
| 6They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. | 6So that they dwell in dreadful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks. |
| 7They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth. | 7"Among the bushes they cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together. |
| 8A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land. | 8"Fools, even those without a name, They were scourged from the land. |
| 9"And now those young men mock me in 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 keep 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. |
| 11Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off 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 tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their 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 break up my road; they succeed in destroying me. 'No one can help him,' they say. | 13"They break up my path, They profit from my destruction; No one restrains them. |
| 14They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in. | 14"As through a wide breach they come, Amid the tempest they roll on. |
| 15Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud. | 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 life ebbs away; days of suffering grip 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 rest. | 17"At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains take no rest. |
| 18In his great power God becomes like clothing to me; he binds me like the neck of my garment. | 18"By a great force my garment is distorted; It binds me about as the collar of my coat. |
| 19He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes. | 19"He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes. |
| 20"I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely 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 turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me. | 21"You have become cruel to me; With the might of Your hand You persecute me. |
| 22You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; 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 you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed 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 no one lays a hand on 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 those in trouble? Has 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? |
| 26Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness. | 26"When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came. |
| 27The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me. | 27"I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me. |
| 28I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly 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 of jackals, a companion of owls. | 29"I have become a brother to jackals And a companion of ostriches. |
| 30My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever. | 30"My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever. |
| 31My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing. | 31"Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | 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 |
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