1<\/sup>But now, those younger in years scorn me, whose fathers I would not have seen fit to place with the dogs of my flock,<\/span> <\/p>\n 2<\/sup>the strength of whose hands was nothing to me, and they were considered unworthy of life itself.<\/span> <\/p>\n 3<\/sup>They were barren from poverty and hunger; they gnawed in solitude, layered with misfortune and misery.<\/span> <\/p>\n 4<\/sup>And they chewed grass and the bark from trees, and the root of junipers was their food.<\/span> <\/p>\n 5<\/sup>They took these things from the steep valleys, and when they discovered one of these things, they rushed to the others with a cry.<\/span> <\/p>\n 6<\/sup>They lived in the parched desert and in caves underground or above the rocks.<\/span> <\/p>\n 7<\/sup>They rejoiced among these kinds of things, and they considered it delightful to be under thorns.<\/span> <\/p>\n 8<\/sup>These are the sons of foolish and base men, not even paying any attention to the land.<\/span> <\/p>\n 9<\/sup>Now I become their song, and I have been made into their proverb.<\/span> <\/p>\n 10<\/sup>They loathe me, and so they flee far from me, and they are not reluctant to spit in my face.<\/span> <\/p>\n 11<\/sup>For he has opened his quiver and has afflicted me, and he has placed a bridle in my mouth.<\/span> <\/p>\n 12<\/sup>Immediately, upon rising, my calamities rise up to the right. They have overturned my feet and have pressed me down along their way like waves.<\/span> <\/p>\n 13<\/sup>They have diverted my journeys; they have waited to ambush me, and they have prevailed, and there was no one who might bring help.<\/span> <\/p>\n 14<\/sup>They have rushed upon me, as when a wall is broken or a gate opened, and they have been pulled down into my miseries.<\/span> <\/p>\n 15<\/sup>I have been reduced to nothing. You have taken away my desire like a wind, and my health has passed by like a cloud.<\/span> <\/p>\n 16<\/sup>But now my soul withers within myself, and the days of affliction take hold of me.<\/span> <\/p>\n 17<\/sup>At night, my bone is pierced with sorrows, and those who feed on me, do not sleep.<\/span> <\/p>\n 18<\/sup>By the sheer number of them my clothing is worn away, and they have closed in on me like the collar of my coat.<\/span> <\/p>\n 19<\/sup>I have been treated like dirt, and I have been turned into embers and ashes.<\/span> <\/p>\n 20<\/sup>I cry to you, and you do not heed me. I stand up, and you do not look back at me.<\/span> <\/p>\n 21<\/sup>You have changed me into hardness, and, with the hardness of your hand, you oppose me.<\/span> <\/p>\n 22<\/sup>You have lifted me up, and, placing me as if on the wind, you have thrown me down powerfully.<\/span> <\/p>\n 23<\/sup>I know that you will hand me over to death, where a home has been established for all the living.<\/span> <\/p>\n 24<\/sup>Truly, then, you do not extend your hand in order to consume them, and if they fall down, you will save them.<\/span> <\/p>\n 25<\/sup>Once, I wept over him who was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.<\/span> <\/p>\n 26<\/sup>I expected good things, but evil things have come to me. I stood ready for light, yet darkness burst forth.<\/span> <\/p>\n 27<\/sup>My insides have seethed, without any rest, for the days of affliction have prevented it.<\/span> <\/p>\n 28<\/sup>I went forth mourning, without anger, and rising up, I cried out in confusion.<\/span> <\/p>\n 29<\/sup>I was the brother of snakes, and the companion of ostriches.<\/span> <\/p>\n 30<\/sup>My skin has become blackened over me, and my bones have dried up because of the heat.<\/span> <\/p>\n 31<\/sup>My harp has been turned into mourning, and my pipes have been turned into a voice of weeping.<\/span> <\/p>\n