1  ^u“But now they laugh at me,

men who are ^vyounger than I,

whose fathers I would have disdained

to set with the dogs of my flock.

2  What could I gain from the strength of their hands,

men whose vigor is gone?

3  Through want and hard hunger

they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation;

4  they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes,

and the roots of the broom tree for their food.¹

5  They are driven out from human company;

they shout after them as after a thief.

6  In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,

in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7  Among the bushes they bray;

under the ^wnettles they huddle together.

8  A senseless, a nameless brood,

they have been whipped out of the land.

9  “And now I have become their ^xsong;

I am a byword to them.

10  They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;

they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.

11  Because God has loosed my ^ycord and humbled me,

they have cast off restraint² in my presence.

12  On my right hand the rabble rise;

they push away my feet;

they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

13  They break up my path;

they promote my calamity;

they need no one to help them.

14  As through a wide breach they come;

amid the crash they roll on.

15  Terrors are turned upon me;

my honor is pursued as by the wind,

and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

16  “And now my soul is ^zpoured out within me;

days of affliction have taken hold of me.

17  ^aThe night racks my bones,

and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.

18  With great force my garment is disfigured;

it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.

19  God³ has cast me into the mire,

and I have become like dust and ashes.

20  I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;

I stand, and you only look at me.

21  You have turned cruel to me;

with the might of your hand you ^bpersecute me.

22  ^cYou lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,

and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.

23  For I know that you will bring me to death

and to the house appointed for all living.

24  “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,

and in his disaster cry for help?⁴

25  ^dDid not I weep for him whose day was hard?

Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

26  But ^ewhen I hoped for good, evil came,

and when I ^fwaited for light, darkness came.

27  My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;

days of affliction come to meet me.

28  I ^ggo about darkened, but not by the sun;

I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

29  I am a brother of ^hjackals

and a companion of ostriches.

30  ⁱMy skin turns ^jblack and falls from me,

and my ^kbones burn with heat.

31  My lyre is turned ^lto mourning,

and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

1  “I have made a covenant with my ^meyes;

how then could I ⁿgaze at a virgin?

2  What would be my portion from God above

and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

3  Is not calamity for the unrighteous,

and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

4  Does not he see my ways

and ^onumber all my steps?

5  “If I have walked with falsehood

and my foot has hastened to deceit;

6  (Let me be ^pweighed in a just balance,

and let God know my ^qintegrity!)

7  if ^rmy step has turned aside from the way

and my heart has gone after my eyes,

and if any spot has stuck to my hands,

8  then ^slet me sow, and another eat,

and let what grows for me⁵ be rooted out.

9  “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

10  then let my wife grind for another,

and let others bow down on her.

11  For that would be a heinous crime;

that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;

12  for that would be a ^tfire that consumes as far as Abaddon,

and it would burn to the root all my increase.

13  “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,

when they brought a complaint against me,

14  what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

15  ^uDid not he who made me in the womb make him?

^vAnd did not one fashion us in the womb?

16  “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,

or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17  or have eaten my morsel alone,

and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18  (for from my youth the fatherless⁶ grew up with me as with a father,

and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow⁷),

19  if I have seen anyone perish for ^wlack of clothing,

or the needy without covering,

20  if his body has not blessed me,⁸

and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

21  if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,

because I saw my help in the gate,

22  then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be ^xbroken from its socket.

23  For I was in terror of calamity from God,

and I could not have faced his ^ymajesty.

24  “If I have made gold my trust

or called fine gold my ^zconfidence,

25  if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant

or because my hand had found much,

26  if I have looked at the ^asun⁹ when it shone,

or the moon moving in splendor,

27  and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand,

28  this also would be an iniquity ^bto be punished by the judges,

for I would have been false to God above.

29  “If I have ^crejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,

or exulted when evil overtook him

30  (I have not let my mouth sin

by asking for his life with a ^dcurse),

31  if the men of my tent have not said,

‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’

32  (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;

^eI have opened my doors to the traveler),

33  if I have ^fconcealed my transgressions as others do¹⁰

by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

34  because I stood in great fear of the multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—

35  ^gOh, that I had one to hear me!

(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)

Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!

36  Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;

I would bind it on me as a crown;

37  I would give him an account of all my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

38  “If my land has cried out against me

and its furrows have wept together,

39  if I have eaten its yield without payment

and made its owners breathe their last,

40  let thorns grow instead of wheat,

and foul weeds instead of barley.”

^w“‘You are my ^xSon,

today I have begotten you.’

^z“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

^a“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

41  ^c“‘Look, you scoffers,

be astounded and perish;

for I am doing a work in your days,

a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”

ⁱ“‘I have made you ^ja light for the Gentiles,

that you may bring salvation to the ^kends of the earth.’”