1But now they mock at me, men younger than I, whose fathers I have refused to put with the dogs of my flock. 2Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished. 3They are gaunt from want and famine, gnawing the dry ground recently made desolate and waste; 4who pluck mallow by the bushes, and broom tree roots for their food. 5They were driven out from the midst; they shouted at them as against a thief; 6to dwell in the ravines of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and the rocks. 7Among the bushes they brayed, under the nettles they huddled. 8They were sons of fools, yea, sons without a name; they were scourged from the land. 9And now I am their taunting song; yea, I am their byword. 10They abhor me, they keep far from me; they do not refrain from spitting in my face. 11Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint before me. 12At my right hand the brood arises; they push away my feet, and they raise against me their ways of destruction. 13They have broken up my path, they profit from my calamity; they have no helper. 14They come as broad breakers; under the devastation they roll along. 15Terrors are turned upon me; they pursue my honor as the wind, and my prosperity has vanished like a cloud. 16And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction take hold of me. 17My bones are pierced in me at night, and my gnawing pains take no rest. 18By great force my garment is disfigured; it binds me about as the collar of my coat. 19He 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 pay no attention to me. 21But You have changed to be cruel to me; with the strength of Your hand You oppose me. 22You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it; You dissipate me in the storm. 23For I know that You will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. 24Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins. Behold, they cry out for help when He destroys it. 25Have I not wept for him who had a hard day? Has not my soul grieved for the needy? 26But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, then came darkness. 27My stomach has been upset and is not still; days of affliction have confronted me. 28I have walked about in the dark, not in the sun; I have stood up in the assembly and cried out for help. 29I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to the daughters of the owl. 30My skin has grown black on me; my bones are burned with dryness. 31My harp is turned to mourning, and my flute into the voice of those who weep.