1 But now those younger than I am, whose fathers I rejected {ma’asti: held in contempt} even to put with the dogs of my flock, mock me {sachaku: ridicule openly}.
2 Also, why is the strength {koach: working power} of their hands to me, when vigor {kalach: youthful force} has perished in them?
3 In want {bekheser: severe deprivation} and in hunger {kaphan: intense starvation}, they are gaunt, gnawing the dry ground—by night in waste and desolation.
4 They are pluckers {hakotefim: desperate foragers} of salt herb on the shrubs, and the root of broom bushes is their food {lachmam: sole sustenance}.
5 They were driven out from the midst {gev: core community}, and people cried out against them as thieves {ganav: covert wrongdoers}.
6 They dwelt in the ravines {ba'aruts: water-carved channels} of streams, in holes {chorei: earthen cavities} of dust, and among the rocks.
7 Between the bushes they brayed; under the thornbush {kharul: prickly shrub} they gathered themselves {yesupachu: sought shelter together}.
8 Sons of a fool {naval: Utter Disgrace} and sons of no name {vli-shem: Social Outcasts} were driven from the land.
9 And now I have become their song {neginatam: object of mockery}, and I have become a byword {milah: proverbial insult} to them.
10 They detest {tiavuni: active rejection} me and keep far from me; and from before me they did not withhold spittle {rok: contemptuous gesture}.
11 Because He {Eloah, Sovereign Afflicter} has loosened my bowstring and afflicted me, they have thrown off the bridle {resen: social restraint} from before me.
12 On my right hand {yamin: vantage position}, rabble rise; they thrust my feet away and build up paths {archot: assault routes} of calamity against me.
13 They break up my path; they advance my destruction{lehavvati: ruinous outcome}; there is no helper{ozer: assistant} for them.
14 Like a wide breach {keferetz: sudden opening} they come; under destruction {šōʾāh: overwhelming ruin} they roll.
15 Terrors {ballahot: panicking dread} have turned upon me; my nobility is pursued like the wind, and my salvation {yeshuah: deliverance rescue} has passed away like a cloud.
16 And now my soul {nefesh: Life Essence} is poured out upon me; days of affliction {oni: Hardship and Suffering} seize me.
17 At night my bones are pierced {niqqar: painfully opened} within me, and my gnawing pains {weorqay: relentless pains} do not rest.
18 With great power {koach: crushing strength} my garment is distorted; it binds me like the collar {pi: garment opening} of my tunic.
19 He has cast me into the clay{lachomer: base of humiliation}, and I have become like dust and ashes{efer: what remains after burning}.
20 I cry out to You {Divine Hearer}, but You do not answer me; I stand, and You only look {titbonen: attentive scrutiny} at me.
21 You have turned {tehafekh: total reversal} against me as a cruel one, and with the might {be'otsem: concentrated strength} of your hand you attack me.
22 You lift me up to the wind, you cause me to ride it, and you dissolve {temoggeni: complete undoing} me in the storm’s roar.
23 For I know that You will bring me to death, and to the house of meeting {moed: appointed place of assembly} for all the living {chai: those still alive}.
24 Yet, in a heap of ruins {be-'i: heap of ruins}, does not one stretch out a hand, and in his calamity is there not a cry for help {shua: desperate appeal}?
25 Did I not weep for those facing a hard day {liqshe-hayom: severe trial}? Was not my soul grieved for the needy {evyon: destitute person}?
26 For I hoped {kiviti: confident expectation} for good, but evil came; and I waited for the light, and darkness {ofel: deep gloom} came.
27 My inward parts seethe {ruttechu: intense agitation}; they are not quiet, and days of affliction confront {qiddemuni: hostile approach} me.
28 I walked about darkened, without the sun; I rose in the assembly {qahal: communal gathering} and cried for help {ashavea: urgent plea}.
29 I became a brother to jackals {tannim: desert scavengers} and a companion to ostriches {yaʿanah: desert bird}.
30 My skin has become black {shachar: intense darkening} upon me, and my bones are burned from heat {khorev: searing dryness}.
31 My lyre has become for mourning {evel: lamentation ritual}, and my pipe for the sound of mourners {bokhim: those who lament}.