30 “But now they ^(A)laugh at me,
    men who are ^(B)younger 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,
    ^(C)men whose ^(D)vigor is gone?

¹⁶ “And now my soul is ^(A)poured out within me;
    days of affliction have taken hold of me.
^17 (B)The night ^(C)racks my bones,
    and the pain that ^(D)gnaws me takes no rest.
¹⁸ With great force my garment is ^(E)disfigured;
    it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
¹⁹ God^[a] has cast me into the mire,
    and I have become like ^(F)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 ^(G)turned cruel to me;
    with the might of your hand you ^(H)persecute me.
^22 (I)You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,
    and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
^23 (J)For I know that you will bring me to death
    and to the house appointed for ^(K)all living.

²⁴ “Yet does not one in a ^(L)heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
    and in his disaster cry for help?^[b]
25 Did not I ^(M)weep for him whose day was hard?
    Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
²⁶ But ^(N)when I hoped for good, evil came,
    and when I waited for light, ^(O)darkness came.
²⁷ My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;
    days of affliction ^(P)come to meet me.
²⁸ I ^(Q)go about darkened, but not by the sun;
    I stand up in ^(R)the assembly and cry for help.
²⁹ I am a brother of ^(S)jackals
    and a companion of ^(T)ostriches.
³⁰ My ^(U)skin turns black and falls from me,
    and my ^(V)bones burn with heat.
³¹ My ^(W)lyre is ^(X)turned to mourning,
    and my ^(Y)pipe to the voice of those who weep.