⁸ God has blocked my way so I cannot move.
    He has plunged my path into darkness.

²³ Why is life given to those with no future,
    those God has surrounded with difficulties?

⁷ He has walled me in, and I cannot escape.
    He has bound me in heavy chains.

⁹ He has blocked my way with a high stone wall;
    he has made my road crooked.

⁸ You have driven my friends away
    by making me repulsive to them.
I am in a trap with no way of escape.

⁶ “For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes.
    I will block her path with a wall
    to make her lose her way.

¹⁹ But the way of the wicked is like total darkness.
    They have no idea what they are stumbling over.

¹² “Therefore, the paths they take
    will become slippery.
They will be chased through the dark,
    and there they will fall.
For I will bring disaster upon them
    at the time fixed for their punishment.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!