Holman Christian Standard Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

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

1"But now those younger than I mock me, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

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

2"Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them.

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

3"From want and famine they are gaunt Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,

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

4Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

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

5"They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief,

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

6So that they dwell in dreadful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

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

7"Among the bushes they cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together.

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

8"Fools, even those without a name, They were scourged from the land.

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

9"And now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to them.

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

10"They abhor me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting at my face.

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

11"Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me.

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

12"On the right hand their brood arises; They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction.

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

13"They break up my path, They profit from my destruction; No one restrains them.

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

14"As through a wide breach they come, Amid the tempest they roll on.

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

15"Terrors are turned against me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

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

16"And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me.

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

17"At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains take no rest.

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

18"By a great force my garment is distorted; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

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

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

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

20"I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.

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

21"You have become cruel to me; With the might of Your hand You persecute me.

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

22"You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And You dissolve me in a storm.

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

23"For I know that You will bring me to death And to the house of meeting for all living.

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

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

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

25"Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

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

26"When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came.

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

27"I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me.

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

28"I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

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

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

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

30"My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever.

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

31"Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org