Hebrew Names Version HNV
The Message Bible MSG
1 "But now those who are younger than I, have me in derision, Whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
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"But no longer. Now I'm the butt of their jokes - young ruffians! whippersnappers!
2 Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, Men in whom ripe age has perished?
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Why, I considered their fathers mere inexperienced pups. But they are worse than dogs - good for nothing, stray, mangy animals,
3 They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.
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Half-starved, scavenging the back alleys, howling at the moon;
4 They pluck mallukh by the bushes. The roots of the broom are their food.
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Homeless guttersnipes chewing on old bones and licking old tin cans;
5 They are driven forth from the midst of men; They cry after them as after a thief;
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Outcasts from the community, cursed as dangerous delinquents.
6 So that they dwell in frightful valleys, And in holes of the eretz and of the rocks.
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Nobody would put up with them; they were driven from the neighborhood.
7 Among the bushes they bray; And under the nettles they are gathered together.
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You could hear them out there at the edge of town, yelping and barking, huddled in junkyards,
8 They are children of fools, yes, children of base men. They were flogged out of the land.
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A gang of beggars and no-names, thrown out on their ears.
9 "Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them.
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"But now I'm the one they're after, mistreating me, taunting and mocking.
10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, And don't hesitate to spit in my face.
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They abhor me, they abuse me. How dare those scoundrels - they spit in my face!
11 For he has loosed his cord, and afflicted me; And they have thrown off restraint before me.
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Now that God has undone me and left me in a heap, they hold nothing back. Anything goes.
12 On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet, They cast up against me their ways of destruction.
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They come at me from my blind side, trip me up, then jump on me while I'm down.
13 They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, Without anyone's help.
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They throw every kind of obstacle in my path, determined to ruin me - and no one lifts a finger to help me!
14 As through a wide breach they come, In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves in.
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They violate my broken body, trample through the rubble of my ruined life.
15 Terrors are turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.
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Terrors assault me - my dignity in shreds, salvation up in smoke.
16 "Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold on me.
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"And now my life drains out, as suffering seizes and grips me hard.
17 In the night season my bones are pierced in me, And the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
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Night gnaws at my bones; the pain never lets up.
18 By great force is my garment disfigured. It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
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I am tied hand and foot, my neck in a noose. I twist and turn.
19 He has cast me into the mire. I have become like dust and ashes.
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Thrown facedown in the muck, I'm a muddy mess, inside and out. What Did I Do to Deserve This?
20 I cry to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.
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"I shout for help, God, and get nothing, no answer! I stand to face you in protest, and you give me a blank stare!
21 You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of your hand you persecute me.
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You've turned into my tormenter - you slap me around, knock me about.
22 You lift me up to the wind, and drive me with it. You dissolve me in the storm.
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You raised me up so I was riding high and then dropped me, and I crashed.
23 For I know that you will bring me to death, To the house appointed for all living.
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I know you're determined to kill me, to put me six feet under.
24 "However doesn't one stretch out a hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
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"What did I do to deserve this? Did I ever hit anyone who was calling for help?
25 Didn't I weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn't my soul grieved for the needy?
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Haven't I wept for those who live a hard life, been heartsick over the lot of the poor?
26 When I looked for good, then evil came; When I waited for light, there came darkness.
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But where did it get me? I expected good but evil showed up. I looked for light but darkness fell.
27 My heart is troubled, and doesn't rest. Days of affliction have come on me.
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My stomach's in a constant churning, never settles down. Each day confronts me with more suffering.
28 I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
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I walk under a black cloud. The sun is gone. I stand in the congregation and protest.
29 I am a brother to jackals, And a companion to ostriches.
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I howl with the jackals, I hoot with the owls.
30 My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.
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I'm black and blue all over, burning up with fever.
31 Therefore is my harp turned to mourning, And my pipe into the voice of those who weep.
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My fiddle plays nothing but the blues; my mouth harp wails laments.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.