¶ But now they that are¹ younger than I² have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

Yea, whereto might the strength of³ their hands profit me, in whom old age⁴ was perished?

For want and famine they were solitary⁵; fleeing into⁶ the wilderness in former time⁷ desolate and waste.

Who cut up mallows⁸ by the bushes, and juniper roots⁹ for their meat¹⁰.

They were driven¹¹ forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)

To dwell¹² in the clifts of the valleys, in caves¹³ of the earth, and in the rocks.

Among the bushes they brayed¹⁴; under the nettles¹⁵ they were gathered together.

They were children¹⁶ of fools¹⁷, yea, children of base men¹⁸: they were viler than the earth.

And now am I¹⁹ their song, yea, I am their byword.

¶ They abhor me,²⁰ they flee far²¹ from me, and spare not to spit in my face²².

Because he hath loosed²³ my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose²⁴ the bridle before me.

Upon my right hand rise²⁵ the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up²⁶ against me the ways of their destruction.

They mar my path, they set forward²⁷ my calamity, they have no helper.

They came upon me as a wide²⁸ breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

¶ Terrors²⁹ are turned upon me: they pursue my soul³⁰ as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

And now my soul³¹ is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold³² upon me.

My bones³³ are pierced in me in the night season³⁴: and my sinews take no rest.

By the great³⁵ force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

He hath cast me³⁶ into the mire, and I am become like dust³⁷ and ashes.

¶ I cry³⁸ unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

Thou art become cruel³⁹ to me: with thy strong hand⁴⁰ thou opposest thyself against me.

Thou liftest me⁴¹ up to the wind; thou causest me to ride⁴² upon it, and dissolvest my substance⁴³.

For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house⁴⁴ appointed for all living.

Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave⁴⁵, though they cry in his destruction.

Did not I⁴⁶ weep for him that was in trouble⁴⁷? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

When I looked⁴⁸ for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light⁴⁹, there came darkness.

⁵⁰My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

⁵¹I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.

I am a brother⁵² to dragons, and a companion to owls⁵³.

¶ My skin⁵⁴ is black upon me, and my bones⁵⁵ are burned with heat.

⁵⁶My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.