3
Through want and hard hunger they 1gnaw 2the dry ground by night in 3waste and desolation;
4
they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.
5
4They are driven out from human company; they shout after them as after a thief.
6
In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of 5the rocks.
7
Among the bushes they 6bray; under 7the nettles they huddle together.
8
A senseless, a nameless brood, they have been whipped out of the land.
9
"And now I have become their 8song; I am 9a byword to them.
10
They 10abhor me; they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to 11spit at the sight of me.
11
Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12
On my 12right hand the rabble rise; they push away my feet; they 13cast up against me their ways of destruction.
13
They break up my path; they promote my 14calamity; they need no one to help them.
14
As through a wide 15breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.
15
16Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like 17a cloud.
16
"And now my soul is 18poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17
19The night 20racks my bones, and the pain that 21gnaws me takes no rest.
18
With great force my garment is 22disfigured; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
19
God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like 23dust and ashes.
20
I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.
21
You have 24turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you 25persecute me.
22
26You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
23
27For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for 28all living.