New International Version NIV
Young's Literal Translation YLT
1 “But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
1
And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock.
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them?
2
Also -- the power of their hands, why [is it] to me? On them hath old age perished.
3 Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night.
3
With want and with famine gloomy, Those fleeing to a dry place, Formerly a desolation and waste,
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom bush.
4
Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And broom-roots [is] their food.
5 They were banished from human society, shouted at as if they were thieves.
5
From the midst they are cast out, (They shout against them as a thief),
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
6
In a frightful place of valleys to dwell, Holes of earth and clefts.
7 They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth.
7
Among shrubs they do groan, Under nettles they are gathered together.
8 A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.
8
Sons of folly -- even sons without name, They have been smitten from the land.
9 “And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
9
And now, their song I have been, And I am to them for a byword.
10 They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
10
They have abominated me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
11
Because His cord He loosed and afflicteth me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.
12 On my right the tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me.
12
On the right hand doth a brood arise, My feet they have cast away, And they raise up against me, Their paths of calamity.
13 They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me. ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
13
They have broken down my path, By my calamity they profit, `He hath no helper.'
14 They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.
14
As a wide breach they come, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
15 Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.
15
He hath turned against me terrors, It pursueth as the wind mine abundance, And as a thick cloud, Hath my safety passed away.
16 “And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.
16
And now, in me my soul poureth itself out, Seize me do days of affliction.
17 Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.
17
At night my bone hath been pierced in me, And mine eyelids do not lie down.
18 In his great power God becomes like clothing to me ; he binds me like the neck of my garment.
18
By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it doth gird me.
19 He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
19
Casting me into mire, And I am become 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.
20
I cry unto Thee, And Thou dost not answer me, I have stood, and Thou dost consider me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.
21
Thou art turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Thy hand, Thou oppresest me.
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.
22
Thou dost lift me up, On the wind Thou dost cause me to ride, And Thou meltest -- Thou levellest me.
23 I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
23
For I have known To death Thou dost bring me back, And [to] the house appointed for all living.
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.
24
Surely not against the heap Doth He send forth the hand, Though in its ruin they have safety.
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
25
Did not I weep for him whose day is hard? Grieved hath my soul for the needy.
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.
26
When good I expected, then cometh evil, And I wait for light, and darkness cometh.
27 The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.
27
My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Gone before me have days of affliction.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
28
Mourning I have gone without the sun, I have risen, in an assembly I cry.
29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls.
29
A brother I have been to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
30 My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever.
30
My skin hath been black upon me, And my bone hath burned from heat,
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing.
31
And my harp doth become mourning, And my organ the sound of weeping.
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.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.