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¹ But now the young in days laugh at me; those whose fathers I would have refused to set with the dogs of my flock.² Also, what profit for me was the strength of their hands; for full vigor had perished from them?³ They are lifeless with want and hunger, those who gnaw the dry ground which was formerly waste and desolation;⁴ those plucking mallow by the bushes, and broom roots for their food;⁵ they are driven from the midst; they shouted against them as a thief;⁶ they dwell in the chasms of the torrents, in the holes of the earth, and in rocks.⁷ They bray among the bushes; they huddle together under the nettles;⁸ sons of fools; yea, sons without a name; they have been whipped out of the land.⁹ And now I am their song; yea, I am their byword.¹⁰ They despise me, and they keep away from me; they do not spare spit from my face.¹¹ Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, they also have thrown off the bridle in my presence.¹² On my right hand a brood rises; they push away my feet and raise their destructive ways against me.¹³ They have broken down my path; they profit by my ruin; they have no helper.¹⁴ They come on, as through a break; they roll on under ruin.

¹⁵ Terrors are turned on me; they pursue my soul like the wind, and my goods pass away like a cloud.¹⁶ And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have seized me.¹⁷ The night pierces my bones on me, and my gnawings never lie down.¹⁸ By the great force of my disease my garment is disfigured; it chokes me like the mouth of my coat.¹⁹ He has cast me into the mire; and I have become like dust and ashes.²⁰ I cried to You, but You did not answer me. I stood up, and You looked at me.²¹ You changed to be cruel to me; You assault me with the might of Your hand;²² You lift me up to the wind; You cause me to ride on it ; and You melt me in a storm.²³ For I know that You will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.²⁴ Surely He will not stretch out His hand to the ruin heap; behold, they cry for help in their misfortune.²⁵ Did I not weep for him whose day is hard; and my soul grieved for the poor?²⁶ When I looked for good, then evil came; and when I waited for light, then darkness came.²⁷ My bowels have boiled, and they have not rested; the days of affliction confront me.²⁸ I go in mourning with no sun; I stood up in the assembly, and I cried out.²⁹ I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to daughters of the ostrich.³⁰ My skin is blackened on me, and my bones are burned with heat.³¹ And my lyre has turned to mourning, and My flute vibrates to the sound of weeping.