| New International Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1"But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs. | 1“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs. |
| 2Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them? | 2What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them? |
| 3Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night. | 3Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night. |
| 4In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom bush. | 4They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food. |
| 5They were banished from human society, shouted at as if they were thieves. | 5They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves, |
| 6They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. | 6so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. |
| 7They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth. | 7They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles. |
| 8A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land. | 8A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land. |
| 9"And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them. | 9And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them. |
| 10They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. | 10They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. |
| 11Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence. | 11Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence. |
| 12On my right the tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me. | 12The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me. |
| 13They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me. 'No one can help him,' they say. | 13They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them. |
| 14They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in. | 14They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in. |
| 15Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud. | 15Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud. |
| 16"And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me. | 16And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me. |
| 17Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest. | 17Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest. |
| 18In his great power God becomes like clothing to me; he binds me like the neck of my garment. | 18With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic. |
| 19He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes. | 19He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes. |
| 20"I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me. | 20I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me. |
| 21You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me. | 21You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand. |
| 22You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm. | 22You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm. |
| 23I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living. | 23Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living. |
| 24"Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress. | 24Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress. |
| 25Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor? | 25Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy? |
| 26Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness. | 26But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell. |
| 27The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me. | 27I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me. |
| 28I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. | 28I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. |
| 29I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls. | 29I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches. |
| 30My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever. | 30My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever. |
| 31My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing. | 31My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping. |
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