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¹ BUT now they laugh at me, those who are less than I,² Whose fathers I have disdained, and did not consider them equal to the dogs of my flocks.³ Yea, the strength of their hands, of what use would it have been to me?⁴ For they had lost their power completely.⁵ They were forced by bare necessities, like a thief swept off his feet,⁶ Fleeing to dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, in crevices,⁷ In rocky places, and under bushes.⁸ The children of fools shall be overthrown together with the children of the wicked; they shall be brought lower than the earth.⁹ And now I am the subject of their mocking, yea, I have become a byword to them.¹⁰ They abhor me, they flee far from me, and do not fail to spit in my face.¹¹ Because they began to deride me and humiliate me, they have also put their bridle in my mouth.¹² They rise up against my right hand, they have tripped me up; they have perplexed me through the crookedness of their ways.¹³ They mar my paths without a cause, they rejoice for what has befallen me; they shall have no helper.¹⁴ They shall suffer a great ruin; they shall be broken by the hurricane.

¹⁵ For they have brought terror upon me; they have pursued my paths like the wind; and my help has passed away like a cloud.¹⁶ And now my soul is weary; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.¹⁷ In the night my bones are in pain, and my body has no strength in it.¹⁸ I have put on my garment; and girded up myself with my robe.¹⁹ But they have cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.²⁰ I cry to thee, and thou dost not answer me; I stand up and thou dost not consider me.²¹ Thou hast treated me as an enemy to thee; with thy strong hand thou hast restrained me.²² Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and then thou afflictest me, and makest me wretched.²³ And yet I know that thou wilt bring me back from death to the meeting place for all living.²⁴ But he will not stretch out his hand against me, and when I cry to him he will save me.²⁵ I have wept for the poor in the daytime, and my soul was grieved for the fatherless.²⁶ But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.²⁷ My heart was agitated, and did not rest; the days of affliction came upon me.²⁸ I walked mournfully without being resentful; I stood up and wept in the congregation.²⁹ I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.³⁰ My skin has shrunk upon me, and my bones are burned as with heat.³¹ My harp is also turned to mourning, and my song to the voice of those who weep.