New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 “But now I am mocked by people younger than I, by young men whose fathers are not worthy to run with my sheepdogs.
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But now those younger than I mock me, whose fathers I refused to put beside my sheepdogs.
2 A lot of good they are to me— those worn-out wretches!
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Their strength, what's it to me, their energy having perished?
3 They are gaunt from poverty and hunger. They claw the dry ground in desolate wastelands.
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Stiff from want and hunger, those who gnaw dry ground, yesterday's desolate waste,
4 They pluck wild greens from among the bushes and eat from the roots of broom trees.
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who pluck off the leaves on a bush, the root of the broom— a shrub is their food.
5 They are driven from human society, and people shout at them as if they were thieves.
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People banish them from society, shout at them as if to a thief;
6 So now they live in frightening ravines, in caves and among the rocks.
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so they live in scary ravines, holes in the ground and rocks.
7 They sound like animals howling among the bushes, huddled together beneath the nettles.
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Among shrubs, they make sounds like donkeys; they are huddled together under a bush,
8 They are nameless fools, outcasts from society.
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children of fools and the nameless, whipped out of the land.
9 “And now they mock me with vulgar songs! They taunt me!
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And now I'm their song; I'm their cliché!
10 They despise me and won’t come near me, except to spit in my face.
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They detest me, keep their distance, don't withhold spit from my face.
11 For God has cut my bowstring. He has humbled me, so they have thrown off all restraint.
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Because he loosened my bowstring and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
12 These outcasts oppose me to my face. They send me sprawling and lay traps in my path.
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On the right, upstarts rise and target my feet, build their siege ramps against me,
13 They block my road and do everything they can to destroy me. They know I have no one to help me.
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destroy my road, profit from my fall, with no help.
14 They come at me from all directions. They jump on me when I am down.
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They advance as if through a destroyed wall; they roll along beneath the ruin.
15 I live in terror now. My honor has blown away in the wind, and my prosperity has vanished 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 seeps away. Depression haunts my days.
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Now my life is poured out on me; days of misery have seized me.
17 At night my bones are filled with pain, which gnaws at me relentlessly.
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At night he bores my bones; my gnawing pain won't rest.
18 With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt. He grips me by the collar of my coat.
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With great force he grasps my clothing; it binds me like the neck of my shirt.
19 He has thrown me into the mud. I’m nothing more than dust and ashes.
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He hurls me into mud; I'm a cliché, like dust and ashes.
20 “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look.
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I cry to you, and you don't answer; I stand up, but you just look at me.
21 You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me.
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You are cruel to me, attack me with the strength of your hand.
22 You throw me into the whirlwind and destroy me in the storm.
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You lift me to the wind and make me ride; you melt me in its roar.
23 And I know you are sending me to my death— the destination of all who live.
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I know you will return me to death, the house appointed for all the living.
24 “Surely no one would turn against the needy when they cry for help in their trouble.
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Surely he won't strike someone in ruins if in distress he cries out to him,
25 Did I not weep for those in trouble? Was I not deeply grieved for the needy?
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if I didn't weep for those who have a difficult day or my soul grieve for the needy;
26 So I looked for good, but evil came instead. I waited for the light, but darkness fell.
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for I awaited good, but evil came; I expected light, but gloom arrived.
27 My heart is troubled and restless. Days of suffering torment me.
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My insides, churning, are never quiet; days of affliction confront me.
28 I walk in gloom, without sunlight. I stand in the public square and cry for help.
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I walk in the dark, lacking sunshine; I rise in the assembly and cry out.
29 Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals and a companion to owls.
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I have become a brother to jackals, a companion to young ostriches.
30 My skin has turned dark, and my bones burn with fever.
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My skin is charred; my bones are scorched by the heat.
31 My harp plays sad music, and my flute accompanies those who weep.
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My lyre is for mourning, my flute, a weeping sound.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible