^[1]  But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

^[1]  ---

^[2]  Yes, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

^[2]  ---

^[3]  For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

^[3]  ---

^[4]  Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

^[4]  ---

^[5]  They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)

^[5]  ---

^[6]  To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.

^[6]  ---

^[7]  Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

^[7]  ---

^[8]  They were children of fools, yes, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

^[8]  ---

^[9]  And now am I their song, yes, I am their byword.

^[9]  ---

^[10]  They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.

^[10]  ---

^[11]  Because he has loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.

^[11]  ---

^[12]  On my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

^[12]  ---

^[13]  They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.

^[13]  ---

^[14]  They came on me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves on me.

^[14]  ---

^[15]  Terrors are turned on me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passes away as a cloud.

^[15]  ---

^[16]  And now my soul is poured out on me; the days of affliction have taken hold on me.

^[16]  ---

^[17]  My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

^[17]  ---

^[18]  By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it binds me about as the collar of my coat.

^[18]  ---

^[19]  He has cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.

^[19]  ---

^[20]  I cry to you, and you do not hear me: I stand up, and you regard me not.

^[20]  ---

^[21]  You are become cruel to me: with your strong hand you oppose yourself against me.

^[21]  ---

^[22]  You lift me up to the wind; you cause me to ride on it, and dissolve my substance.

^[22]  ---

^[23]  For I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

^[23]  ---

^[24]  However, he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.

^[24]  ---

^[25]  Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

^[25]  ---

^[26]  When I looked for good, then evil came to me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

^[26]  ---

^[27]  My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

^[27]  ---

^[28]  I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.

^[28]  ---

^[29]  I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

^[29]  ---

^[30]  My skin is black on me, and my bones are burned with heat.

^[30]  ---

^[31]  My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

^[31]  ---