New King James Version

Christian Standard Bible

1“But now they mock at me, men younger than I, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

1But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.

2Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished.

2What use to me was the strength of their hands? Their vigor had left them.

3They are gaunt from want and famine, Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,

3Emaciated from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, the desolate wasteland by night.

4Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And broom tree roots for their food.

4They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

5They were driven out from among men, They shouted at them as at a thief.

5They were banished from human society; people shouted at them as if they were thieves.

6They had to live in the clefts of the valleys, In caves of the earth and the rocks.

6They are living on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

7Among the bushes they brayed, Under the nettles they nestled.

7They bray among the shrubs; they huddle beneath the thistles.

8They were sons of fools, Yes, sons of vile men; They were scourged from the land.

8Foolish men, without even a name. They were forced to leave the land.

9“And now I am their taunting song; Yes, I am their byword.

9Now I am mocked by their songs; I have become an object of scorn to them.

10They abhor me, they keep far from me; They do not hesitate to spit in my face.

10They despise me and keep their distance from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

11Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off restraint before me.

11Because God has loosened my bowstring and oppressed me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

12At my right hand the rabble arises; They push away my feet, And they raise against me their ways of destruction.

12The rabble rise up at my right; they trap my feet and construct their siege ramp against me.

13They break up my path, They promote my calamity; They have no helper.

13They tear up my path; they contribute to my destruction, without anyone to help them.

14They come as broad breakers; Under the ruinous storm they roll along.

14They advance as through a gaping breach; they keep rolling in through the ruins.

15Terrors are turned upon me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

15Terrors are turned loose against me; they chase my dignity away like the wind, and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.

16“And now my soul is poured out because of my plight; The days of affliction take hold of me.

16Now my life is poured out before me, and days of suffering have seized me.

17My bones are pierced in me at night, And my gnawing pains take no rest.

17Night pierces my bones, but my gnawing pains never rest.

18By great force my garment is disfigured; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

18My clothing is distorted with great force; he chokes me by the neck of my garment.

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

19He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

20“I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me.

20I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me; when I stand up, you merely look at me.

21But You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.

21You have turned against me with cruelty; you harass me with your strong hand.

22You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it; You spoil my success.

22You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it; you scatter me in the storm.

23For I know that You will bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.

23Yes, I know that you will lead me to death--the place appointed for all who live.

24“Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins, If they cry out when He destroys it.

24Yet no one would stretch out his hand against a ruined person when he cries out to him for help because of his distress.

25Have I not wept for him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

25Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

26But when I looked for good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness.

26But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came.

27My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest; Days of affliction confront me.

27I am churning within and cannot rest; days of suffering confront me.

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

28I walk about blackened, but not by the sun. I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.

29I am a brother of jackals, And a companion of ostriches.

29I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.

30My skin grows black and falls from me; My bones burn with fever.

30My skin blackens and flakes off, and my bones burn with fever.

31My harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the voice of those who weep.

31My lyre is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.