Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Living Translation NLT
1 But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock:
1
“But now I am mocked by people younger than I, by young men whose fathers are not worthy to run with my sheepdogs.
2 The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they were thought unworthy of life itself.
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A lot of good they are to me— those worn-out wretches!
3 Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness, disfigured with calamity and misery.
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They are gaunt from poverty and hunger. They claw the dry ground in desolate wastelands.
4 And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers was their food.
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They pluck wild greens from among the bushes and eat from the roots of broom trees.
5 Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry.
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They are driven from human society, and people shout at them as if they were thieves.
6 They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves of earth, or upon the gravel.
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So now they live in frightening ravines, in caves and among the rocks.
7 They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and counted it delightful to be under the briers.
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They sound like animals howling among the bushes, huddled together beneath the nettles.
8 The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at all upon the earth.
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They are nameless fools, outcasts from society.
9 Now I am turned into their song, and am become their byword.
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“And now they mock me with vulgar songs! They taunt me!
10 They abhor me, and flee far from me, and are not afraid to spit in my face.
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They despise me and won’t come near me, except to spit in my face.
11 For he hath opened his quiver, and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle into my mouth.
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For God has cut my bowstring. He has humbled me, so they have thrown off all restraint.
12 At the right hand of my rising, my calamities forthwith arose: they have overthrown my feet, and have overwhelmed me with their paths as with waves.
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These outcasts oppose me to my face. They send me sprawling and lay traps in my path.
13 They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help.
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They block my road and do everything they can to destroy me. They know I have no one to help me.
14 They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and a gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my miseries.
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They come at me from all directions. They jump on me when I am down.
15 I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud.
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I live in terror now. My honor has blown away in the wind, and my prosperity has vanished like a cloud.
16 And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me.
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“And now my life seeps away. Depression haunts my days.
17 In the night my bone is pierced with sorrows: and they that feed upon me, do not sleep.
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At night my bones are filled with pain, which gnaws at me relentlessly.
18 With the multitude of them my garment is consumed, and they have girded me about, as with the collar of my coat.
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With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt. He grips me by the collar of my coat.
19 I am compared to dirt, and am likened to embers and ashes.
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He has thrown me into the mud. I’m nothing more than dust and ashes.
20 I cry to thee, and thou hearest me not: I stand up, and thou dost not regard me.
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“I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look.
21 Thou art changed to be cruel toward me, and in the hardness of thy hand thou art against me.
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You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me.
22 Thou hast lifted me up, and set me as it were upon the wind, and thou hast mightily dashed me.
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You throw me into the whirlwind and destroy me in the storm.
23 I know that thou wilt deliver me to death, where a house is appointed for every one that liveth.
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And I know you are sending me to my death— the destination of all who live.
24 But yet thou stretchest not forth thy hand to their consumption: and if they shall fall down thou wilt save.
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“Surely no one would turn against the needy when they cry for help in their trouble.
25 I wept heretofore for him that was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.
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Did I not weep for those in trouble? Was I not deeply grieved for the needy?
26 I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I waited for light, and darkness broke out.
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So I looked for good, but evil came instead. I waited for the light, but darkness fell.
27 My inner parts have boiled without any rest, the days of affliction have prevented me.
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My heart is troubled and restless. Days of suffering torment me.
28 I went mourning without indignation; I rose up, and cried in the crowd.
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I walk in gloom, without sunlight. I stand in the public square and cry for help.
29 I was the brother of dragons, and companion of ostriches.
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Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals and a companion to owls.
30 My skin is become black upon me, and my bones are dried up with heat.
30
My skin has turned dark, and my bones burn with fever.
31 My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep.
31
My harp plays sad music, and my flute accompanies those who weep.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
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.