1 But now theyiSee ch. 12:4 laugh at me,
men who arejch. 32:6; [ch. 32:4] younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands,
kFor ver. 2-8, see ch. 24:4-8 men whosel[ch. 5:26] vigor is gone?
3 Through want and hard hunger
theym[ver. 17] gnawnJer. 2:6 the dry ground by night inoch. 38:27; Zeph. 1:15 waste and desolation;
4 they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes,
and the roots of the broom tree for their food.1Or warmth
5 p[1 Sam. 26:19] They are driven out from human company;
they shout after them as after a thief.
6 In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,
in holes of the earth and ofq1 Sam. 13:6; Jer. 4:29 the rocks.
7 Among the bushes theyrch. 6:5 bray;
undersProv. 24:31; Zeph. 2:9 the nettles they huddle together.
8 A senseless, a nameless brood,
they have been whipped out of the land.
9 And now I have become theirtPs. 69:12; Lam. 3:14, 63 song;
I amuSee ch. 17:6 a byword to them.
10 TheyvPs. 88:8; [ch. 17:6] abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
they do not hesitate towNum. 12:14; Isa. 50:6; Matt. 26:67; 27:30 spit at the sight of me.
11 Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12 On myxPs. 109:6 right hand the rabble rise;
they push away my feet;
theyych. 19:12 cast up against me their ways of destruction.
13 They break up my path;
they promote myzch. 6:2 calamity;
they need no one to help them.
14 As through a wideach. 16:14 breach they come;
amid the crash they roll on.
15 bSee ch. 18:11 Terrors are turned upon me;
my honor is pursued as by the wind,
and my prosperity has passed away likecch. 7:9; Isa. 44:22 a cloud.
16 And now my soul isd1 Sam. 1:15; [ch. 10:1] poured out within me;
days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 e[ch. 7:3] The nightfch. 33:19 racks my bones,
and the pain thatgver. 3 gnaws me takes no rest.
18 With great force my garment ish[1 Sam. 28:8; 1 Kgs. 20:38] disfigured;
it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
19 God has cast me into the mire,
and I have become likeich. 42:6; [Gen. 18:27] dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;
I stand, and you only look at me.
21 You havejLam. 4:3; [Isa. 63:10] turned cruel to me;
with the might of your hand youkch. 16:9 persecute me.
22 l[ch. 27:21] You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,
and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
23 mch. 19:25 For I know that you will bring me to death
and to the house appointed fornch. 28:21 all living.
24 Yet does not one in aoPs. 79:1; Jer. 26:18; Mic. 1:6; 3:12 heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
and in his disaster cry for help?
25 Did not IpPs. 35:13, 14; Rom. 12:15 weep for him whose day was hard?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
26 ButqJer. 8:15; 14:19 when I hoped for good, evil came,
and when I waited for light,rch. 10:21, 22 darkness came.
27 My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;
days of afflictions2 Sam. 22:6; Ps. 18:5 come to meet me.
28 ItPs. 38:6; 42:9; 43:2 go about darkened, but not by the sun;
I stand up inuProv. 26:26 the assembly and cry for help.
29 I am a brother ofvMic. 1:8 jackals
and a companion ofwIsa. 13:21; 34:13; Jer. 50:39; Mic. 1:8 ostriches.
30 Myx[Ps. 119:83; Lam. 4:8; 5:10] skin turns black and falls from me,
and myyPs. 102:3 bones burn with heat.
31 Myzch. 21:12 lyre isaLam. 5:15 turned to mourning,
and myzch. 21:12 pipe to the voice of those who weep.