New International Version NIV
Common English Bible CEB
1 “But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
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But now those younger than I mock me, whose fathers I refused to put beside my sheepdogs.
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them?
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Their strength, what's it to me, their energy having perished?
3 Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night.
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Stiff from want and hunger, those who gnaw dry ground, yesterday's desolate waste,
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom bush.
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who pluck off the leaves on a bush, the root of the broom— a shrub is their food.
5 They were banished from human society, shouted at as if they were thieves.
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People banish them from society, shout at them as if to a thief;
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
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so they live in scary ravines, holes in the ground and rocks.
7 They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth.
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Among shrubs, they make sounds like donkeys; they are huddled together under a bush,
8 A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.
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children of fools and the nameless, whipped out of the land.
9 “And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
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And now I'm their song; I'm their cliché!
10 They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
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They detest me, keep their distance, don't withhold spit from my face.
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
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Because he loosened my bowstring and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
12 On my right the tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me.
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On the right, upstarts rise and target my feet, build their siege ramps against me,
13 They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me. ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
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destroy my road, profit from my fall, with no help.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.
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They advance as if through a destroyed wall; they roll along beneath the ruin.
15 Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.
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Terrors crash upon me; they sweep away my honor like wind; my safety disappears like a cloud.
16 “And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.
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Now my life is poured out on me; days of misery have seized me.
17 Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.
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At night he bores my bones; my gnawing pain won't rest.
18 In his great power God becomes like clothing to me ; he binds me like the neck of my garment.
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With great force he grasps my clothing; it binds me like the neck of my shirt.
19 He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
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He hurls me into mud; I'm a cliché, like dust and ashes.
20 “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.
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I cry to you, and you don't answer; I stand up, but you just look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.
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You are cruel to me, attack me with the strength of your hand.
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.
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You lift me to the wind and make me ride; you melt me in its roar.
23 I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
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I know you will return me to death, the house appointed for all the living.
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.
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Surely he won't strike someone in ruins if in distress he cries out to him,
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
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if I didn't weep for those who have a difficult day or my soul grieve for the needy;
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.
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for I awaited good, but evil came; I expected light, but gloom arrived.
27 The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.
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My insides, churning, are never quiet; days of affliction confront me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
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I walk in the dark, lacking sunshine; I rise in the assembly and cry out.
29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls.
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I have become a brother to jackals, a companion to young ostriches.
30 My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever.
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My skin is charred; my bones are scorched by the heat.
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing.
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My lyre is for mourning, my flute, a weeping sound.
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.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible