1  “My spirit is broken; my days are ^jextinct;

^kthe graveyard is ready for me.

2  Surely there are mockers about me,

and my eye dwells on their ^lprovocation.

3  “Lay down a pledge for me with you;

who is there who will put up ^msecurity for me?

4  Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,

therefore you will not let them triumph.

5  He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property—

the ⁿeyes of his children will fail.

6  “He has made me ^oa byword of the peoples,

and I am one before whom men spit.

7  My ^peye has grown dim from vexation,

and all my members are like ^qa shadow.

8  The upright are ^rappalled at this,

and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.

9  Yet the righteous holds to his way,

and he who has ^sclean hands grows stronger and stronger.

10  But you, ^tcome on again, all of you,

and I shall not find a wise man among you.

11  My ^udays are past; my plans are broken off,

the desires of my heart.

12  They ^vmake night into day:

‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’¹

13  If I hope for ^wSheol as ^xmy house,

if I make my bed in darkness,

14  if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

15  where then is my hope?

Who will see my hope?

16  Will it go down to the bars of ^wSheol?

Shall we ^ydescend together ^zinto the dust?”²

2  “How long will you ^bhunt for words?

Consider, and then we will speak.

3  Why are we counted as ^ccattle?

Why are we stupid in your sight?

4  You who ^dtear yourself in your anger,

shall the earth be forsaken for you,

or ^ethe rock be removed out of its place?

5  “Indeed, ^fthe light of the wicked is put out,

and the flame of his fire does not shine.

6  The light is ^gdark in his tent,

and his lamp above him is put out.

7  His strong steps are shortened,

and his ^hown schemes throw him down.

8  For he is cast into a net by his own feet,

and he walks on its mesh.

9  ⁱA trap seizes him by the heel;

a snare lays hold of him.

10  A rope is hidden for him in the ground,

a trap for him in the path.

11  ^jTerrors frighten him on every side,

and chase him at his heels.

12  His strength is famished,

and calamity is ^kready for his stumbling.

13  It consumes the parts of his skin;

^lthe firstborn of death consumes his limbs.

14  He is torn from the tent in which he trusted

and is brought to ^mthe king of terrors.

15  In his tent dwells that which is none of his;

ⁿsulfur is scattered over his habitation.

16  His ^oroots dry up beneath,

and his branches ^pwither above.

17  His ^qmemory perishes from the earth,

and he has no name in the street.

18  ^rHe is thrust from light into darkness,

and driven out of the world.

19  He has no ^sposterity or progeny among his people,

and no survivor where he used to live.

20  They of the west are appalled at his ^tday,

and ^uhorror seizes them of the east.

21  Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,

such is the place of him who ^vknows not God.”

2  “How long will you torment me

and break me in pieces with words?

3  These ^wten times you have cast reproach upon me;

are you not ashamed to wrong me?

4  And even if it be true that I have erred,

my error remains with myself.

5  If indeed you ^xmagnify yourselves against me

and make my disgrace an argument against me,

6  know then that God has ^yput me in the wrong

and closed his net about me.

7  Behold, I ^zcry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;

I call for help, but there is no justice.

8  He has ^awalled up my way, so that I cannot pass,

and he has set darkness upon my paths.

9  He has ^bstripped from me my glory

and taken the ^ccrown from my head.

10  He breaks me down on every side, and I ^dam gone,

and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.

11  He has kindled his wrath against me

and ^ecounts me as his adversary.

12  His ^ftroops come on together;

they have ^gcast up their siege ramp³ against me

and encamp around my tent.

13  “He has put my ^hbrothers far from me,

and ⁱthose who knew me are wholly estranged from me.

14  My relatives ^jhave failed me,

my close ^kfriends have forgotten me.

15  The guests ^lin my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;

I have become a foreigner in their eyes.

16  I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;

I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.

17  My breath is strange to my ^mwife,

and I am a stench to the children of ⁿmy own mother.

18  Even young ^ochildren despise me;

when I rise they talk against me.

19  All my ^pintimate friends abhor me,

and those whom I loved have turned against me.

20  My ^qbones stick to my skin and to my flesh,

and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

21  Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,

for the hand of God has ^rtouched me!

22  Why do you, like God, ^spursue me?

Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

23  “Oh that my words were written!

Oh that they were ^tinscribed in a book!

24  Oh that with an iron ^upen and lead

they were engraved in the rock forever!

25  For I ^vknow that my ^wRedeemer lives,

and at the last he will stand upon the ^xearth.⁴

26  And after my skin has been thus destroyed,

yet in⁵ my flesh I shall ^ysee God,

27  whom I shall see for myself,

and my eyes shall behold, and not ^zanother.

My heart ^afaints within me!

28  If you say, ‘How we will ^spursue him!’

and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’⁶

29  be afraid of the sword,

for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,

that you may know there is ^ba judgment.”

1  ^zHear my prayer, O Lord;

let my cry ^acome to you!

2  ^bDo not hide your face from me

in ^cthe day of my distress!

^dIncline your ear to me;

^eanswer me speedily ^fin the day when I call!

3  For my days ^gpass away like smoke,

and my ^hbones burn like a furnace.

4  My heart is ⁱstruck down like grass and ^jhas withered;

I ^kforget to eat my bread.

5  Because of my loud groaning

my ^lbones cling to my flesh.

6  I am like ^ma desert owl of the wilderness,

like an owl¹ of the waste places;

7  I ⁿlie awake;

I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.

8  All the day my enemies taunt me;

those who ^oderide me ^puse my name for a curse.

9  For I eat ashes like bread

and ^qmingle tears with my drink,

10  because of your indignation and anger;

for you have ^rtaken me up and ^sthrown me down.

11  My days are like ^tan evening shadow;

I ^jwither away like grass.

12  But you, O Lord, are ^uenthroned forever;

you ^vare remembered throughout all generations.

13  You will ^warise and have ^xpity on Zion;

it is the time to favor her;

^ythe appointed time has come.

14  For your servants hold her ^zstones dear

and have pity on her dust.

15  Nations will ^afear the name of the Lord,

and all ^bthe kings of the earth will fear your glory.

16  For the Lord ^cbuilds up Zion;

he ^dappears in his glory;

17  he ^eregards the prayer of the destitute

and does not despise their prayer.

18  Let this be ^frecorded for ^ga generation to come,

so that ^ha people yet to be created may praise the Lord:

19  that he ⁱlooked down from his holy height;

from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

20  to hear ^jthe groans of the prisoners,

to set free ^kthose who were doomed to die,

21  that they may ^ldeclare in Zion the name of the Lord,

and in Jerusalem his praise,

22  when ^mpeoples gather together,

and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

23  He has broken my strength in midcourse;

he ⁿhas shortened my days.

24  “O my God,” ^oI say, “take me not away

in the midst of my days—

^pyou whose years endure

throughout all generations!”

25  ^qOf old you laid the foundation of the earth,

and ^rthe heavens are the work of your hands.

26  ^sThey will perish, but ^tyou will remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

27  but ^uyou are the same, and your years have no end.

28  ^vThe children of your servants ^wshall dwell secure;

^xtheir offspring shall be established before you.