New American Standard Bible 1995

King James Bible

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

1But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

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

2Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

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

3For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

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

4Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

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

5They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)

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

6To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.

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

7Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

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

8They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

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

9And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.

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

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

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

11Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.

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

12Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

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

13They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.

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

14They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

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

15Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

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

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

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

17My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

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

18By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

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

19He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.

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

20I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

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

21Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.

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

22Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.

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

23For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

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

24Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.

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

25Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

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

26When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

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

27My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

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

28I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.

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

29I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

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

30My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

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

31My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

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

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.