New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1“But now I am mocked by people younger than I, by young men whose fathers are not worthy to run with my sheepdogs.

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

2A lot of good they are to me— those worn-out wretches!

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

3They are gaunt from poverty and hunger. They claw the dry ground in desolate wastelands.

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

4They pluck wild greens from among the bushes and eat from the roots of broom trees.

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

5They are driven from human society, and people shout at them as if they were thieves.

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

6So now they live in frightening ravines, in caves and among the rocks.

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

7They sound like animals howling among the bushes, huddled together beneath the nettles.

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

8They are nameless fools, outcasts from society.

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

9“And now they mock me with vulgar songs! They taunt me!

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

10They despise me and won’t come near me, except to spit in my face.

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

11For God has cut my bowstring. He has humbled me, so they have thrown off all restraint.

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

12These outcasts oppose me to my face. They send me sprawling and lay traps in my path.

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

13They block my road and do everything they can to destroy me. They know I have no one to help me.

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

14They come at me from all directions. They jump on me when I am down.

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

15I live in terror now. My honor has blown away in the wind, and my prosperity has vanished 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.

16“And now my life seeps away. Depression haunts my days.

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

17At night my bones are filled with pain, which gnaws at me relentlessly.

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

18With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt. He grips me by the collar of my coat.

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

19He has thrown me into the mud. I’m nothing more than dust and ashes.

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

20“I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look.

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 become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me.

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

22You throw me into the whirlwind and destroy me in the storm.

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

23And I know you are sending me to my death— the destination of all who live.

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

24“Surely no one would turn against the needy when they cry for help in their trouble.

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

25Did I not weep for those in trouble? Was I not deeply grieved for the needy?

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

26So I looked for good, but evil came instead. I waited for the light, but darkness fell.

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

27My heart is troubled and restless. Days of suffering torment me.

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

28I walk in gloom, without sunlight. I stand in the public square and cry for help.

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

29Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals and a companion to owls.

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

30My skin has turned dark, and my bones burn with fever.

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

31My harp plays sad music, and my flute accompanies those who weep.

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

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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