30 “But now men who are younger than I make fun of me.
I would not have even let their fathers
    sit with my sheep dogs.
² Their hands had no strength to help me.
    They had even lost their strength to work.
³ They were thin from being hungry and in need.
    They wandered through the dry and ruined land at night.
⁴ They gathered desert plants by the brush for food.
    They even ate the root of the broom tree.
⁵ They were forced to live away from other people.
    People shouted at them as if they were thieves.
⁶ These young men had to live in dried up streambeds.
    They lived in caves and among the rocks.
⁷ They howled like animals out among the bushes.
    And they huddled together in the brush.
⁸ They are worthless people without names.
    They were forced to leave the land.

⁹ “Now they make fun of me with songs.
    My name has become a joke among them.
¹⁰ They hate me and stay far away from me.
    But they do not mind spitting in my face.
¹¹ God has taken away my strength and made me suffer.
    So they attack me with all their anger.
¹² On my right side they attack me like a mob.
    They lay traps for my feet.
    They prepare to attack me.
¹³ They break up my road.
    They work to destroy me
    without anyone stopping them.
¹⁴ They go forward as if through a hole in the wall.
    They roll in among the ruins.
¹⁵ Great fears overwhelm me.
    They blow my honor away as if by a great wind.
    My safety disappears like a cloud.

¹⁶ “Now my life is almost over.
    My days are full of suffering.
¹⁷ At night my bones ache.
    Gnawing pains never stop.
¹⁸ In his great power God grabs hold of my clothing.
    He chokes me with the collar of my coat.
¹⁹ He throws me into the mud.
    And I become like dirt and ashes.

²⁰ “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer.
    I stand up, but you just look at me.
²¹ You turn on me without mercy.
    You attack me with your powerful hand.
²² You snatch me up and throw me into the wind.
    You toss me about in the storm.
²³ I know you will bring me down to death.
    You will bring me to the place where all living people must go.

²⁴ “Surely no one would hurt a ruined man
    when he cries for help in his time of trouble.
²⁵ I have cried for those who are in trouble.
    My soul has been very sad for poor people.
²⁶ But when I hoped for good, only evil came to me.
    When I looked for light, darkness came.
²⁷ I never stop being upset inside.
    Days of suffering are ahead of me.
²⁸ I have become black, but not by the sun.
    I stand up in public and cry for help.
²⁹ It is as if I have become a brother to wild dogs
    and a friend to ostriches.
³⁰ My skin becomes black and peels off.
    My body burns with fever.
³¹ My harp is tuned for singing a sad song.
    And my flute is tuned for the sound of loud crying.