1. But now the young in days laugh at me; those whose fathers I would have refused to set with the dogs of my flock.
2. Also, what profit for me was the strength of their hands; for full vigor had perished from them?
3. They are lifeless with want and hunger, those who gnaw the dry ground which was formerly waste and desolation;
4. those plucking mallow by the bushes, and broom roots for their food;
5. they are driven from the midst; they shouted against them as a thief;
6. they dwell in the chasms of the torrents, in the holes of the earth, and in rocks.
7. They bray among the bushes; they huddle together under the nettles;
8. sons of fools; yea, sons without a name; they have been whipped out of the land.
9. And now I am their song; yea, I am their byword.
10. They despise me, and they keep away from me; they do not spare spit from my face.
11. Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, they also have thrown off the bridle in my presence.
12. On my right hand a brood rises; they push away my feet and raise their destructive ways against me.
13. They have broken down my path; they profit by my ruin; they have no helper.
14. They come on, as through a break; they roll on under ruin.
15. Terrors are turned on me; they pursue my soul like the wind, and my goods pass away like a cloud.
16. And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have seized me.
17. The night pierces my bones on me, and my gnawings never lie down.
18. By the great force of my disease my garment is disfigured; it chokes me like the mouth of my coat.
19. He has cast me into the mire; and I have become like dust and ashes.
20. I cried to You, but You did not answer me. I stood up, and You looked at me.
21. You changed to be cruel to me; You assault me with the might of Your hand;
22. You lift me up to the wind; You cause me to ride on it; and You melt me in a storm.
23. For I know that You will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
24. Surely He will not stretch out His hand to the ruin heap; behold, they cry for help in their misfortune.
25. Did I not weep for him whose day is hard; and my soul grieved for the poor?
26. When I looked for good, then evil came; and when I waited for light, then darkness came.
27. My bowels have boiled, and they have not rested; the days of affliction confront me.
28. I go in mourning with no sun; I stood up in the assembly, and I cried out.
29. I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
30. My skin is blackened on me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31. And my lyre has turned to mourning, and My flute vibrates to the sound of weeping.