2Whose fathers I have disdained, and did not consider them equal to the dogs of my flocks.

3Yea, the strength of their hands, of what use would it have been to me?

4For they had lost their power completely.

5They were forced by bare necessities, like a thief swept off his feet,

6Fleeing to dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, in crevices,

7In rocky places, and under bushes.

8The children of fools shall be overthrown together with the children of the wicked; they shall be brought lower than the earth.

9And now I am the subject of their mocking, yea, I have become a byword to them.

10They abhor me, they flee far from me, and do not fail to spit in my face.

11Because they began to deride me and humiliate me, they have also put their bridle in my mouth.

12They rise up against my right hand, they have tripped me up; they have perplexed me through the crookedness of their ways.

13They mar my paths without a cause, they rejoice for what has befallen me; they shall have no helper.

14They shall suffer a great ruin; they shall be broken by the hurricane.

15For they have brought terror upon me; they have pursued my paths like the wind; and my help has passed away like a cloud.

16And now my soul is weary; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

17In the night my bones are in pain, and my body has no strength in it.

18I have put on my garment; and girded up myself with my robe.

19But they have cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.

20I cry to thee, and thou dost not answer me; I stand up and thou dost not consider me.

21Thou hast treated me as an enemy to thee; with thy strong hand thou hast restrained me.

22Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and then thou afflictest me, and makest me wretched.

23And yet I know that thou wilt bring me back from death to the meeting place for all living.

24But he will not stretch out his hand against me, and when I cry to him he will save me.

25I have wept for the poor in the daytime, and my soul was grieved for the fatherless.

26But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

27My heart was agitated, and did not rest; the days of affliction came upon me.

28I walked mournfully without being resentful; I stood up and wept in the congregation.

29I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.

30My skin has shrunk upon me, and my bones are burned as with heat.

31My harp is also turned to mourning, and my song to the voice of those who weep.