30 “But now they mock me,^(A)
    men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to put with my sheep dogs.^(B)
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
    since their vigor had gone from them?
³ Haggard from want and hunger,
    they roamed^[a] the parched land^(C)
    in desolate wastelands^(D) at night.^(E)
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,^(F)
    and their food^[b] was the root of the broom bush.^(G)
5 They were banished from human society,
    shouted at as if they were thieves.
⁶ They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
    among the rocks and in holes in the ground.^(H)
7 They brayed^(I) among the bushes^(J)
    and huddled in the undergrowth.
⁸ A base and nameless brood,^(K)
    they were driven out of the land.^(L)

⁹ “And now those young men mock me^(M) in song;^(N)
    I have become a byword^(O) among them.
¹⁰ They detest me^(P) and keep their distance;
    they do not hesitate to spit in my face.^(Q)
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow^(R) and afflicted me,^(S)
    they throw off restraint^(T) in my presence.
¹² On my right^(U) the tribe^[c] attacks;
    they lay snares^(V) for my feet,^(W)
    they build their siege ramps against me.^(X)
13 They break up my road;^(Y)
    they succeed in destroying me.^(Z)
    ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
¹⁴ They advance as through a gaping breach;^(AA)
    amid the ruins they come rolling in.
¹⁵ Terrors^(AB) overwhelm me;^(AC)
    my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
    my safety vanishes like a cloud.^(AD)

¹⁶ “And now my life ebbs away;^(AE)
    days of suffering grip me.^(AF)
17 Night pierces my bones;
    my gnawing pains never rest.^(AG)
18 In his great power^(AH) God becomes like clothing to me^[d];
    he binds me like the neck of my garment.
¹⁹ He throws me into the mud,^(AI)
    and I am reduced to dust and ashes.^(AJ)

²⁰ “I cry out to you,^(AK) God, but you do not answer;^(AL)
    I stand up, but you merely look at me.
²¹ You turn on me ruthlessly;^(AM)
    with the might of your hand^(AN) you attack me.^(AO)
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;^(AP)
    you toss me about in the storm.^(AQ)
23 I know you will bring me down to death,^(AR)
    to the place appointed for all the living.^(AS)

²⁴ “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man^(AT)
    when he cries for help in his distress.^(AU)
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?^(AV)
    Has not my soul grieved for the poor?^(AW)
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
    when I looked for light, then came darkness.^(AX)
27 The churning inside me never stops;^(AY)
    days of suffering confront me.^(AZ)
28 I go about blackened,^(BA) but not by the sun;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.^(BB)
29 I have become a brother of jackals,^(BC)
    a companion of owls.^(BD)
30 My skin grows black^(BE) and peels;^(BF)
    my body burns with fever.^(BG)
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,^(BH)
    and my pipe^(BI) to the sound of wailing.

31 “I made a covenant with my eyes^(BJ)
    not to look lustfully at a young woman.^(BK)
2 For what is our lot^(BL) from God above,
    our heritage from the Almighty on high?^(BM)
3 Is it not ruin^(BN) for the wicked,
    disaster^(BO) for those who do wrong?^(BP)
4 Does he not see my ways^(BQ)
    and count my every step?^(BR)

⁵ “If I have walked with falsehood
    or my foot has hurried after deceit^(BS)—
⁶ let God weigh me^(BT) in honest scales^(BU)
    and he will know that I am blameless^(BV)—
⁷ if my steps have turned from the path,^(BW)
    if my heart has been led by my eyes,
    or if my hands^(BX) have been defiled,^(BY)
8 then may others eat what I have sown,^(BZ)
    and may my crops be uprooted.^(CA)

⁹ “If my heart has been enticed^(CB) by a woman,^(CC)
    or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
¹⁰ then may my wife grind^(CD) another man’s grain,
    and may other men sleep with her.^(CE)
11 For that would have been wicked,^(CF)
    a sin to be judged.^(CG)
12 It is a fire^(CH) that burns to Destruction^[e];^(CI)
    it would have uprooted my harvest.^(CJ)

¹³ “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,^(CK)
    whether male or female,
    when they had a grievance against me,^(CL)
14 what will I do when God confronts me?^(CM)
    What will I answer when called to account?^(CN)
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?^(CO)
    Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?^(CP)

¹⁶ “If I have denied the desires of the poor^(CQ)
    or let the eyes of the widow^(CR) grow weary,^(CS)
17 if I have kept my bread to myself,
    not sharing it with the fatherless^(CT)—
¹⁸ but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
    and from my birth I guided the widow^(CU)—
¹⁹ if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,^(CV)
    or the needy^(CW) without garments,
²⁰ and their hearts did not bless me^(CX)
    for warming them with the fleece^(CY) from my sheep,
²¹ if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,^(CZ)
    knowing that I had influence in court,^(DA)
22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
    let it be broken off at the joint.^(DB)
23 For I dreaded destruction from God,^(DC)
    and for fear of his splendor^(DD) I could not do such things.^(DE)

²⁴ “If I have put my trust in gold^(DF)
    or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’^(DG)
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,^(DH)
    the fortune my hands had gained,^(DI)
26 if I have regarded the sun^(DJ) in its radiance
    or the moon^(DK) moving in splendor,
²⁷ so that my heart was secretly enticed^(DL)
    and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,^(DM)
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,^(DN)
    for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.^(DO)

²⁹ “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune^(DP)
    or gloated over the trouble that came to him^(DQ)—
³⁰ I have not allowed my mouth to sin
    by invoking a curse against their life^(DR)—
³¹ if those of my household have never said,
    ‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’^(DS)—
³² but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
    for my door was always open to the traveler^(DT)—
³³ if I have concealed^(DU) my sin as people do,^[f]
    by hiding^(DV) my guilt in my heart
³⁴ because I so feared the crowd^(DW)
    and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
    that I kept silent^(DX) and would not go outside—

³⁵ (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!^(DY)
    I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
    let my accuser^(DZ) put his indictment in writing.
³⁶ Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,^(EA)
    I would put it on like a crown.^(EB)
37 I would give him an account of my every step;^(EC)
    I would present it to him as to a ruler.^(ED))—

³⁸ “if my land cries out against me^(EE)
    and all its furrows are wet^(EF) with tears,
³⁹ if I have devoured its yield without payment^(EG)
    or broken the spirit of its tenants,^(EH)
40 then let briers^(EI) come up instead of wheat
    and stinkweed^(EJ) instead of barley.”

“‘You are my son;
    today I have become your father.’^[a](O)

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’^[b](P)

“‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’^[c](Q)

⁴¹ “‘Look, you scoffers,
    wonder and perish,
for I am going to do something in your days
    that you would never believe,
    even if someone told you.’^[d]”^(X)

“‘I have made you^[e] a light for the Gentiles,^(AE)
    that you^[f] may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’^[g]”^(AF)