(“) But now they mock me ... , men younger than I am , ... whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
- What use ... was the strength of their hands , since their vigor had left them ?
Gaunt from poverty and hunger , they gnawed the dry land , and the desolate wasteland by night.
They plucked mallow among the shrubs , and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
They were banished from among (men) , shouted down like thieves ,
so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis , among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
A senseless and vvv nameless brood , they were driven off the land.
And now vvv they mock me in song ; I have become a byword
They abhor me and keep far from me ; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me , they have cast off restraint in my presence.
The rabble arises at my right ; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps ... against me.
They tear up my path ; they profit from my destruction , with no one to restrain
They advance as through a wide breach ; through the ruins they keep rolling in.
Terrors are turned loose against me ; they drive away my dignity as by the wind , and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
And now my soul is poured out within me ; days of affliction grip me.
Night pierces ... my bones , and my gnawing pains never rest.
With great force He grasps my garment ; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
He throws me into the mud , and I have become like dust and ashes.
I cry out to You for help , but You do not answer ; when I stand up , You merely look
You have Ruth -lessly turned You oppose me with Your strong hand.
You snatch me up into the wind and drive me (before it) ; You toss me about in the storm.
Yes , I know that You will bring me down (to) death , to the place appointed for all the living.
Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress
- Have I not wept for those in trouble ... ? Has my soul not grieved for the needy ?
But when I hoped for good , evil came ; when I looked for light , darkness fell.
I am churning within and cannot rest ; days of affliction confront me.
I go about blackened , but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
I have become a brother of jackals , a companion vvv of ostriches.
My skin grows black and peels ... , and my bones burn with fever.
My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping. (’’)