English Standard Version

Christian Standard Bible

1“But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

1But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.

2What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone?

2What use to me was the strength of their hands? Their vigor had left them.

3Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation;

3Emaciated from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, the desolate wasteland by night.

4they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.

4They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

5They are driven out from human company; they shout after them as after a thief.

5They were banished from human society; people shouted at them as if they were thieves.

6In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

6They are living on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

7Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together.

7They bray among the shrubs; they huddle beneath the thistles.

8A senseless, a nameless brood, they have been whipped out of the land.

8Foolish men, without even a name. They were forced to leave the land.

9“And now I have become their song; I am a byword to them.

9Now I am mocked by their songs; I have become an object of scorn to them.

10They abhor me; they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.

10They despise me and keep their distance from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

11Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

11Because God has loosened my bowstring and oppressed me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

12On my right hand the rabble rise; they push away my feet; they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

12The rabble rise up at my right; they trap my feet and construct their siege ramp against me.

13They break up my path; they promote my calamity; they need no one to help them.

13They tear up my path; they contribute to my destruction, without anyone to help them.

14As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.

14They advance as through a gaping breach; they keep rolling in through the ruins.

15Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

15Terrors are turned loose against me; they chase my dignity away like the wind, and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.

16“And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me.

16Now my life is poured out before me, and days of suffering have seized me.

17The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.

17Night pierces my bones, but my gnawing pains never rest.

18With great force my garment is disfigured; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.

18My clothing is distorted with great force; he chokes me by the neck of my garment.

19God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.

19He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

20I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.

20I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me; when I stand up, you merely look at me.

21You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me.

21You have turned against me with cruelty; you harass me with your strong hand.

22You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.

22You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it; you scatter me in the storm.

23For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living.

23Yes, I know that you will lead me to death--the place appointed for all who live.

24“Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help?

24Yet no one would stretch out his hand against a ruined person when he cries out to him for help because of his distress.

25Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

25Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

26But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came.

26But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came.

27My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me.

27I am churning within and cannot rest; days of suffering confront me.

28I go about darkened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

28I walk about blackened, but not by the sun. I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.

29I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches.

29I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.

30My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat.

30My skin blackens and flakes off, and my bones burn with fever.

31My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

31My lyre is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.