⁸ He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;^(A)
    he has shrouded my paths in darkness.^(B)

²³ Why is life given to a man
    whose way is hidden,^(A)
    whom God has hedged in?^(B)

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape;^(A)
    he has weighed me down with chains.^(B)

⁹ He has barred^(A) my way with blocks of stone;
    he has made my paths crooked.^(B)

⁸ You have taken from me my closest friends^(A)
    and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined^(B) and cannot escape;^(C)

¹⁹ But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;^(A)
    they do not know what makes them stumble.^(B)

¹² “Therefore their path will become slippery;^(A)
    they will be banished to darkness
    and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
    in the year they are punished,^(B)”
declares the Lord.