| Revised Standard Version (RSV) |
New International Version (NIV) |
|
1 "But now they make sport of me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
|
1 "But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
|
|
2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone?
|
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them?
|
|
3 Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry and desolate ground;
|
3 Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night.
|
|
4 they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of the broom.
|
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom tree.
|
|
5 They are driven out from among men; they shout after them as after a thief.
|
5 They were banished from their fellow men, shouted at as if they were thieves.
|
|
6 In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
|
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
|
|
7 Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together.
|
7 They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth.
|
|
8 A senseless, a disreputable brood, they have been whipped out of the land.
|
8 A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.
|
|
9 "And now I have become their song, I am a byword to them.
|
9 "And now their sons mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
|
|
10 They abhor me, they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.
|
10 They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
|
|
11 Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
|
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
|
|
12 On my right hand the rabble rise, they drive me forth, they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
|
12 On my right the tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me.
|
|
13 They break up my path, they promote my calamity; no one restrains them.
|
13 They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me-- without anyone's helping them.
|
|
14 As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.
|
14 They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.
|
|
15 Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
|
15 Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.
|
|
16 "And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me.
|
16 "And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.
|
|
17 The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
|
17 Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.
|
|
18 With violence it seizes my garment; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
|
18 In his great power [God] becomes like clothing to me; he binds me like the neck of my garment.
|
|
19 God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
|
19 He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
|
|
20 I cry to thee and thou dost not answer me; I stand, and thou dost not heed me.
|
20 "I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.
|
|
21 Thou hast turned cruel to me; with the might of thy hand thou dost persecute me.
|
21 You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.
|
|
22 Thou liftest me up on the wind, thou makest me ride on it, and thou tossest me about in the roar of the storm.
|
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.
|
|
23 Yea, I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
|
23 I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
|
|
24 "Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help?
|
24 "Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.
|
|
25 Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
|
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
|
|
26 But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came.
|
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.
|
|
27 My heart is in turmoil, and is never still; days of affliction come to meet me.
|
27 The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.
|
|
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
|
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
|
|
29 I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches.
|
29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls.
|
|
30 My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat.
|
30 My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever.
|
|
31 My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.
|
31 My harp is tuned to mourning, and my flute to the sound of wailing.
|
| Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Revised Standard Version - Holy Bible) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
