6
In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of 1the rocks.
7
Among the bushes they 2bray; under 3the 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 4song; I am 5a byword to them.
10
They 6abhor me; they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to 7spit 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 8right hand the rabble rise; they push away my feet; they 9cast up against me their ways of destruction.
13
They break up my path; they promote my 10calamity; they need no one to help them.
14
As through a wide 11breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.
15
12Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like 13a cloud.
16
"And now my soul is 14poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17
15The night 16racks my bones, and the pain that 17gnaws me takes no rest.
18
With great force my garment is 18disfigured; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
19
God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like 19dust 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 20turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you 21persecute me.
22
22You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
23
23For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for 24all living.
24
"Yet does not one in a 25heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help?
25
Did not I 26weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
26
But 27when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, 28darkness came.
27
My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction 29come to meet me.
28
I 30go about darkened, but not by the sun; I stand up in 31the assembly and cry for help.
29
I am a brother of 32jackals and a companion of 33ostriches.
30
My 34skin turns black and falls from me, and my 35bones burn with heat.
31
My 36lyre is 37turned to mourning, and my 38pipe to the voice of those who weep.