English Standard Version

King James Bible

1“But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

1But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

2What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone?

2Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

3Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation;

3For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

4they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.

4Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

5They are driven out from human company; they shout after them as after a thief.

5They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)

6In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

6To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.

7Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together.

7Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

8A senseless, a nameless brood, they have been whipped out of the land.

8They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

9“And now I have become their song; I am a byword to them.

9And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.

10They abhor me; they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.

10They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.

11Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

11Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.

12On my right hand the rabble rise; they push away my feet; they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

12Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

13They break up my path; they promote my calamity; they need no one to help them.

13They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.

14As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.

14They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

15Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

15Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

16“And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me.

16And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

17The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.

17My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

18With great force my garment is disfigured; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.

18By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

19God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.

19He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.

20I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.

20I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

21You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me.

21Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.

22You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.

22Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.

23For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living.

23For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

24“Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help?

24Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.

25Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

25Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

26But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came.

26When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

27My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me.

27My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

28I go about darkened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

28I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.

29I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches.

29I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

30My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat.

30My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

31My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

31My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.