But now they that are younger than I have me in derision,
Whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me?
Men in whom {Or, vigor}ripe age is perished.
They are gaunt with want and famine;
{Or, They flee into the wilderness, into &c.}They gnaw the dry ground, {Or, which yesternight was Or, on the eve of}in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.
They pluck salt-wort by the bushes;
And the roots of the broom are {Or, to warm them}their food.
They are driven forth from the midst of men;
They cry after them as after a thief;
So that they dwell in frightful valleys,
In holes of the earth and of the rocks.
Among the bushes they bray;
Under the {Or, wild vetches}nettles they {Or, stretch themselves}are gathered together.
They are children of fools, yea, children of {Hebrew: men of no name.}base men;
They {Or, are outcasts from the land}were scouraged out of the land.
And now I am become their song,
Yea, I am a byword unto them.
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me,
And spare not to spit {Or, at the sight of me}in my face.
For he hath loosed {According to another reading, my cord (or, bowstring).}his cord, and afflicted me;
And they have cast off the bridle before me.
Upon my right hand rise the {Or, brood}rabble;
They thrust aside my feet,
And they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
They {Or, break up}mar my path,
They set forward my calamity,
Even men that have no helper.
{Or, As a wide breaking in of waters}As through a wide breach they come:
In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.
Terrors are turned upon me;
{Or, Thou chasest}They chase {Or, my nobility}mine honor as the wind;
And my welfare is passed away as a cloud.
And now my soul is poured out {Hebrew: upon.}within me;
Days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
In the night season my bones are {Or, corroded and drop away from me}pierced {Hebrew: from off.}in me,
And {Or, my sinews take &c.}the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
By God's great force is my garment disfigured;
It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
He hath cast me into the mire,
And I am become like dust and ashes.
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me:
I stand up, and thou gazest at me.
Thou art turned to be cruel to me;
With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.
Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it;
And thou dissolvest me in the storm.
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death,
And {Or, the house of meeting for &c.}to the house appointed for all living.
Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall?
Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
When I looked for good, then evil came;
And when I waited for light, there came darkness.
My heart is troubled, and resteth not;
Days of affliction are come upon me.
I go {Or, blackened, but not by the sun}mourning without the sun:
I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
I am a brother to jackals,
And a companion to ostriches.
My skin is black, and falleth from me,
And my bones are burned with heat.
Therefore is my harp turned to mourning,
And my pipe into the voice of them that weep.
Querverweise zu Hiob 30,19 Hiob 30,19
Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch,And mine own clothes shall abhor me.
And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself therewith; and he sat among the ashes.
For the Chief Musician; set to {That is, Lilies}Shoshannim. A Psalm of David.Save me, O God;For the waters are come in unto my soul.
Wherefore I {Or, loathe my words}abhor myself,And repent in dust and ashes.
I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing:I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes:
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the {Or, pit}dungeon of Malchijah {Or, the son of Hammelech}the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.