New Century Version NCV
New International Version NIV
1 "But now men who are younger than I make fun of me. I would not have even let their fathers sit with my sheep dogs.
1
“But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
2 What use did I have for their strength since they had lost their strength to work?
2
Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them?
3 They were thin from hunger and wandered the dry and ruined land at night.
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Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night.
4 They gathered desert plants among the brush and ate the root of the broom tree.
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In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom bush.
5 They were forced to live away from people; people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
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They were banished from human society, shouted at as if they were thieves.
6 They lived in dried up streambeds, in caves, and among the rocks.
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They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 They howled like animals among the bushes and huddled together in the brush.
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They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 They are worthless people without names and were forced to leave the land.
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A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.
9 "Now they make fun of me with songs; my name is a joke among them.
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“And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10 They hate me and stay far away from me, but they do not mind spitting in my face.
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They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 God has taken away my strength and made me suffer, so they attack me with all their anger.
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Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
12 On my right side they rise up like a mob. They lay traps for my feet and prepare to attack me.
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On my right the tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me.
13 They break up my road and work to destroy me, and no one helps me.
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They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me. ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They come at me as if through a hole in the wall, and they roll in among the ruins.
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They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Great fears overwhelm me. They blow my honor away as if by a great wind, and my safety disappears like a cloud.
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Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.
16 "Now my life is almost over; my days are full of suffering.
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“And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.
17 At night my bones ache; gnawing pains never stop.
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Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.
18 In his great power God grabs hold of my clothing and chokes me with the collar of my coat.
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In his great power God becomes like clothing to me ; he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud, and I become like dirt and ashes.
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He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
20 "I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you just look at me.
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“I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You have turned on me without mercy; with your powerful hand you attacked me.
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You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.
22 You snatched me up and threw me into the wind and tossed me about in the storm.
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You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.
23 I know you will bring me down to death, to the place where all living people must go.
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I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
24 "Surely no one would hurt a ruined man when he cries for help in his time of trouble.
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“Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.
25 I cried for those who were in trouble; I have been very sad for poor people.
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Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 But when I hoped for good, only evil came to me; when I looked for light, darkness came.
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Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.
27 I never stop being upset; days of suffering are ahead of me.
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The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.
28 I have turned black, but not by the sun. I stand up in public and cry for help.
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I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother to wild dogs and a friend to ostriches.
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I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls.
30 My skin has become black and peels off, as my body burns with fever.
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My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever.
31 My harp is tuned to sing a sad song, and my flute is tuned to moaning.
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My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.