Berean Study Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.

1"But now those younger than I mock me, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

2What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?

2"Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them.

3Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.

3"From want and famine they are gaunt Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,

4They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

4Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

5They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,

5"They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief,

6so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

6So that they dwell in dreadful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.

7"Among the bushes they cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together.

8A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.

8"Fools, even those without a name, They were scourged from the land.

9And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

9"And now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to them.

10They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

10"They abhor me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting at my face.

11Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

11"Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me.

12The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.

12"On the right hand their brood arises; They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction.

13They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.

13"They break up my path, They profit from my destruction; No one restrains them.

14They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.

14"As through a wide breach they come, Amid the tempest they roll on.

15Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

15"Terrors are turned against me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

16And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.

16"And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me.

17Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.

17"At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains take no rest.

18With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.

18"By a great force my garment is distorted; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

19He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

19"He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.

20I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.

20"I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.

21You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.

21"You have become cruel to me; With the might of Your hand You persecute me.

22You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.

22"You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And You dissolve me in a storm.

23Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

23"For I know that You will bring me to death And to the house of meeting for all living.

24Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.

24"Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help?

25Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

25"Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

26But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.

26"When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came.

27I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.

27"I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me.

28I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

28"I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

29I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.

29"I have become a brother to jackals And a companion of ostriches.

30My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.

30"My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever.

31My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.

31"Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

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New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org