men younger than I am,
whose fathers I would have refused to put
with my sheep dogs.
2What use to me was the strength of their hands?
Their vigor had left them.
3Emaciated from poverty and hunger,
they gnawed the dry land,
the desolate wasteland by night.
and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5They were banished from human society;
people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
6They are living on the slopes of the wadis,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7They bray among the shrubs;
they huddle beneath the thistles.
They were forced to leave the land.
I have become an object of scorn to them.
11Because God has loosened my30:11 Alt Hb tradition, LXX, Vg read his bowstring and oppressed me,
12The rabble30:12 Hb obscure rise up at my right;
they trap30:12 Lit stretch out my feet
and construct their siege ramp30:12 Lit and raise up their destructive paths against me.30:12 Jb 16:10; 19:12; Ps 140:4–5
13They tear up my path;
without anyone to help them.
14They advance as through a gaping breach;
they chase my dignity away like the wind,
and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.
16Now my life is poured out before me,
17Night pierces my bones,
18My clothing is distorted with great force;
he chokes me by the neck of my garment.30:18 Hb obscure
19He throws me into the mud,
when I stand up, you merely look at me.
21You have turned against me with cruelty;
22You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it;
23Yes, I know that you will lead me to death —
24Yet no one would stretch out his hand
against a ruined person30:24 Lit a heap of ruins
when he cries out to him for help
25Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?
26But when I hoped for good, evil came;
27I am churning within30:27 Lit My bowels boil and cannot rest;
days of suffering confront me.
28I walk about blackened, but not by the sun.30:28 Or walk in sunless gloom
I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.
29I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.
30My skin blackens and flakes off,30:30 Lit blackens away from me
31My lyre is used for mourning
Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard
Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.