²¹ Their flesh wastes away,
    and their bones stick out.

²⁰ I have been reduced to skin and bones
    and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.

¹¹ In the end you will groan in anguish
    when disease consumes your body.

³ For my days disappear like smoke,
    and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
⁴ My heart is sick, withered like grass,
    and I have lost my appetite.
⁵ Because of my groaning,
    I am reduced to skin and bones.

¹¹ When you discipline us for our sins,
    you consume like a moth what is precious to us.
    Each of us is but a breath. Interlude

³ When I refused to confess my sin,
    my body wasted away,
    and I groaned all day long.
⁴ Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
    My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude

¹⁵ My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay.
    My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
    You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
¹⁶ My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
    an evil gang closes in on me.
    They have pierced^[a] my hands and feet.
¹⁷ I can count all my bones.
    My enemies stare at me and gloat.

⁸ As if to prove I have sinned, you’ve reduced me to skin and bones.
    My gaunt flesh testifies against me.

²² They suffer painfully;
    their life is full of trouble.”

²⁰ You always overpower them, and they pass from the scene.
    You disfigure them in death and send them away.