^{1 Ref} 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 Ref} They are gaunt with want and famine; They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.

^{4 Ref} They pluck salt-wort by the bushes; And the roots of the broom are their food.

^{5 Ref} They are driven forth from the midst `of men'; They cry after them as after a thief;

^{6 Ref} So that they dwell in frightful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

^{7 Ref} Among the bushes they bray; Under the nettles they are gathered together.

^{8 Ref} `They are' children of fools, yea, children of base men; They were scourged out of the land.

^{9 Ref} And now I am become their song, Yea, I am a byword unto them.

^{10 Ref} They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, And spare not to spit in my face.

^{11 Ref} For he hath loosed his cord, and afflicted me; And they have cast off the bridle before me.

^{12 Ref} Upon my right hand rise the rabble; They thrust aside my feet, And they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

^{13 Ref} They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, `Even' men that have no helper.

^{14 Ref} As through a wide breach they come: In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves `upon me'.

^{15 Ref} Terrors are turned upon me; They chase mine honor as the wind; And my welfare is passed away as a cloud.

^{16 Ref} And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

^{17 Ref} In the night season my bones are pierced in me, And the `pains' that gnaw me take no rest.

^{18 Ref} By `God's' great force is my garment disfigured; It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

^{19 Ref} He hath cast me into the mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.

^{20 Ref} I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me: I stand up, and thou gazest at me.

^{21 Ref} Thou art turned to be cruel to me; With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.

^{22 Ref} Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride `upon it'; And thou dissolvest me in the storm.

^{23 Ref} For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.

^{24 Ref} Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?

^{25 Ref} Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

^{26 Ref} When I looked for good, then evil came; And when I waited for light, there came darkness.

^{27 Ref} My heart is troubled, and resteth not; Days of affliction are come upon me.

^{28 Ref} I go mourning without the sun: I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

^{29 Ref} I am a brother to jackals, And a companion to ostriches.

^{30 Ref} My skin is black, `and falleth' from me, And my bones are burned with heat.

^{31 Ref} Therefore is my harp `turned' to mourning, And my pipe into the voice of them that weep.

^{1 Ref} And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock.

² Also -- the power of their hands, why `is it' to me? On them hath old age perished.

^{3 Ref} With want and with famine gloomy, Those fleeing to a dry place, Formerly a desolation and waste,

^{4 Ref} Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And broom-roots `is' their food.

^{5 Ref} From the midst they are cast out, (They shout against them as a thief),

^{6 Ref} In a frightful place of valleys to dwell, Holes of earth and clefts.

^{7 Ref} Among shrubs they do groan, Under nettles they are gathered together.

^{8 Ref} Sons of folly -- even sons without name, They have been smitten from the land.

^{9 Ref} And now, their song I have been, And I am to them for a byword.

^{10 Ref} They have abominated me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.

^{11 Ref} Because His cord He loosed and afflicteth me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.

^{12 Ref} On the right hand doth a brood arise, My feet they have cast away, And they raise up against me, Their paths of calamity.

^{13 Ref} They have broken down my path, By my calamity they profit, `He hath no helper.'

^{14 Ref} As a wide breach they come, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.

^{15 Ref} He hath turned against me terrors, It pursueth as the wind mine abundance, And as a thick cloud, Hath my safety passed away.

^{16 Ref} And now, in me my soul poureth itself out, Seize me do days of affliction.

^{17 Ref} At night my bone hath been pierced in me, And mine eyelids do not lie down.

^{18 Ref} By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it doth gird me.

^{19 Ref} Casting me into mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.

^{20 Ref} I cry unto Thee, And Thou dost not answer me, I have stood, and Thou dost consider me.

^{21 Ref} Thou art turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Thy hand, Thou oppresest me.

^{22 Ref} Thou dost lift me up, On the wind Thou dost cause me to ride, And Thou meltest -- Thou levellest me.

^{23 Ref} For I have known To death Thou dost bring me back, And `to' the house appointed for all living.

^{24 Ref} Surely not against the heap Doth He send forth the hand, Though in its ruin they have safety.

^{25 Ref} Did not I weep for him whose day is hard? Grieved hath my soul for the needy.

^{26 Ref} When good I expected, then cometh evil, And I wait for light, and darkness cometh.

^{27 Ref} My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Gone before me have days of affliction.

^{28 Ref} Mourning I have gone without the sun, I have risen, in an assembly I cry.

^{29 Ref} A brother I have been to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.

^{30 Ref} My skin hath been black upon me, And my bone hath burned from heat,

^{31 Ref} And my harp doth become mourning, And my organ the sound of weeping.