| 1 | But now, those younger in years scorn me, whose fathers I would not have seen fit to place with the dogs of my flock, |
| 2 | the strength of whose hands was nothing to me, and they were considered unworthy of life itself. |
| 3 | They were barren from poverty and hunger; they gnawed in solitude, layered with misfortune and misery. |
| 4 | And they chewed grass and the bark from trees, and the root of junipers was their food. |
| 5 | They took these things from the steep valleys, and when they discovered one of these things, they rushed to the others with a cry. |
| 6 | They lived in the parched desert and in caves underground or above the rocks. |
| 7 | They rejoiced among these kinds of things, and they considered it delightful to be under thorns. |
| 8 | These are the sons of foolish and base men, not even paying any attention to the land. |
| 9 | Now I become their song, and I have been made into their proverb. |
| 10 | They loathe me, and so they flee far from me, and they are not reluctant to spit in my face. |
| 11 | For he has opened his quiver and has afflicted me, and he has placed a bridle in my mouth. |
| 12 | Immediately, upon rising, my calamities rise up to the right. They have overturned my feet and have pressed me down along their way like waves. |
| 13 | They have diverted my journeys; they have waited to ambush me, and they have prevailed, and there was no one who might bring help. |
| 14 | They have rushed upon me, as when a wall is broken or a gate opened, and they have been pulled down into my miseries. |
| 15 | I have been reduced to nothing. You have taken away my desire like a wind, and my health has passed by like a cloud. |
| 16 | But now my soul withers within myself, and the days of affliction take hold of me. |
| 17 | At night, my bone is pierced with sorrows, and those who feed on me, do not sleep. |
| 18 | By the sheer number of them my clothing is worn away, and they have closed in on me like the collar of my coat. |
| 19 | I have been treated like dirt, and I have been turned into embers and ashes. |
| 20 | I cry to you, and you do not heed me. I stand up, and you do not look back at me. |
| 21 | You have changed me into hardness, and, with the hardness of your hand, you oppose me. |
| 22 | You have lifted me up, and, placing me as if on the wind, you have thrown me down powerfully. |
| 23 | I know that you will hand me over to death, where a home has been established for all the living. |
| 24 | Truly, then, you do not extend your hand in order to consume them, and if they fall down, you will save them. |
| 25 | Once, I wept over him who was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor. |
| 26 | I expected good things, but evil things have come to me. I stood ready for light, yet darkness burst forth. |
| 27 | My insides have seethed, without any rest, for the days of affliction have prevented it. |
| 28 | I went forth mourning, without anger, and rising up, I cried out in confusion. |
| 29 | I was the brother of snakes, and the companion of ostriches. |
| 30 | My skin has become blackened over me, and my bones have dried up because of the heat. |
| 31 | My harp has been turned into mourning, and my pipes have been turned into a voice of weeping. |
