| English Standard Version | NET 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. | 1"But now they mock me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I disdained too much to put with my sheep dogs. |
| 2What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone? | 2Moreover, the strength of their hands--what use was it to me? Men whose strength had perished; |
| 3Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation; | 3gaunt with want and hunger, they would gnaw the parched land, in former time desolate and waste. |
| 4they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food. | 4By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes, and the root of the broom tree was their food. |
| 5They are driven out from human company; they shout after them as after a thief. | 5They were banished from the community--people shouted at them like they would shout at thieves-- |
| 6In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks. | 6so that they had to live in the dry stream beds, in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks. |
| 7Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together. | 7They brayed like animals among the bushes and were huddled together under the nettles. |
| 8A senseless, a nameless brood, they have been whipped out of the land. | 8Sons of senseless and nameless people, they were driven out of the land with whips. |
| 9“And now I have become their song; I am a byword to them. | 9"And now I have become their taunt song; I have become a byword among them. |
| 10They abhor me; they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me. | 10They detest me and maintain their distance; 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 untied my tent cord and afflicted me, people throw off all 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. | 12On my right the young rabble rise up; they drive me from place to place, and build up siege ramps against me. |
| 13They break up my path; they promote my calamity; they need no one to help them. | 13They destroy my path; they succeed in destroying me without anyone assisting them. |
| 14As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on. | 14They come in as through a wide breach; amid the crash they come rolling in. |
| 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 on me; they drive away my honor like the wind, and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away. |
| 16“And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. | 16"And now my soul pours itself out within me; days of suffering take hold of me. |
| 17The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. | 17Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never cease. |
| 18With great force my garment is disfigured; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic. | 18With great power God grasps my clothing; he binds me like the collar of my tunic. |
| 19God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. | 19He has flung me into the mud, and I have come to resemble 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, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you only look at me. |
| 21You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. | 21You have become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you attack me. |
| 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 pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; you toss me about in the storm. |
| 23For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living. | 23I know that you are bringing me to death, to the meeting place for all the living. |
| 24“Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help? | 24"Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken man when he cries for help in 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 the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? |
| 26But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came. | 26But when I hoped for good, trouble came; when I expected light, then darkness came. |
| 27My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me. | 27My heart is in turmoil unceasingly; the days of my affliction confront me. |
| 28I go about darkened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. | 28I go about blackened, but not by the sun; in the assembly I stand up and cry 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 has turned dark on me; my body is hot with fever. |
| 31My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep. | 31My harp is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping. |
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