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¹ But now they mock^(C1) me,² What use to me was the strength of their hands?
Their vigor had left them.³ Emaciated from poverty and hunger,
they gnawed the dry land,
the desolate wasteland by night.⁴ They plucked mallow^(F1)(C1) among the shrubs,
and the roots of the broom tree were their food.⁵ They were banished from human society;
people shouted at them as if they were thieves.⁶ They are living on the slopes of the wadis,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.⁷ They bray among the shrubs;
they huddle beneath the thistles.⁸ Foolish^(C1) men, without even a name.
They were forced to leave the land.

⁹ Now I am mocked by their songs;^(C1)
I have become an object of scorn to them.¹⁰ They despise me and keep their distance from me;^(C1)
they do not hesitate to spit^(C2) in my face.¹¹ Because God has loosened my^(F1) bowstring and oppressed me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.^(C1)12 The rabble^(F1) rise up at my right;
they trap^(F2) my feet
and construct their siege ramp^(F3) against me.^(C1)13 They tear up my path;
they contribute to my destruction,^(C1)
without anyone to help them.¹⁴ They advance as through a gaping breach;
they keep rolling in through the ruins.^(C1)15 Terrors^(C1) are turned loose against me;
they chase my dignity away like the wind,
and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.

¹⁶ Now my life is poured out before me,
and days of suffering^(C1) have seized me.¹⁷ Night pierces my bones,
but my gnawing pains never rest.^(C1)18 My clothing is distorted with great force;
he chokes me by the neck of my garment.^(F1)19 He throws me into the mud,
and I have become like dust and ashes.^(C1)

²⁰ I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me;^(C1)
when I stand up, you merely look at me.²¹ You have turned against me with cruelty;
you harass^(C1) me with your strong hand.²² You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it;
you scatter me in the storm.^(C1)23 Yes, I know that you will lead me to death—
the place^(C1) appointed for all who live.

²⁴ Yet no one would stretch out his hand
against a ruined person^(F1)
when he cries out to him for help
because of his distress.^(C1)25 Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?
Has my soul not grieved for the needy?^(C1)26 But when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, darkness^(C1) came.²⁷ I am churning within^(F1) and cannot rest;
days of suffering confront me.²⁸ I walk about blackened, but not by the sun.^(F1)
I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.²⁹ I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.³⁰ My skin blackens and flakes off,^(F1)
and my bones burn with fever.^(C1)31 My lyre is used for mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.^(C1)