1 ועתה שחקו עלי צעירים ממני לימים אשר מאסתי אבותם לשית עם כלבי צאני | 1 But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock: |
2 גם כח ידיהם למה לי עלימו אבד כלח | 2 The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they were thought unworthy of life itself. |
3 בחסר ובכפן גלמוד הערקים ציה אמש שואה ומשאה | 3 Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness, disfigured with calamity and misery. |
4 הקטפים מלוח עלי שיח ושרש רתמים לחמם | 4 And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers was their food. |
5 מן גו יגרשו יריעו עלימו כגנב | 5 Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry. |
6 בערוץ נחלים לשכן חרי עפר וכפים | 6 They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves of earth, or upon the gravel. |
7 בין שיחים ינהקו תחת חרול יספחו | 7 They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and counted it delightful to be under the briers. |
8 בני נבל גם בני בלי שם נכאו מן הארץ | 8 The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at all upon the earth. |
9 ועתה נגינתם הייתי ואהי להם למלה | 9 Now I am turned into their song, and am become their byword. |
10 תעבוני רחקו מני ומפני לא חשכו רק | 10 They abhor me, and flee far from me, and are not afraid to spit in my face. |
11 כי יתרו פתח ויענני ורסן מפני שלחו | 11 For he hath opened his quiver, and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle into my mouth. |
12 על ימין פרחח יקומו רגלי שלחו ויסלו עלי ארחות אידם | 12 At the right hand of my rising, my calamities forthwith arose: they have overthrown my feet, and have overwhelmed me with their paths as with waves. |
13 נתסו נתיבתי להותי יעילו לא עזר למו | 13 They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help. |
14 כפרץ רחב יאתיו תחת שאה התגלגלו | 14 They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and a gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my miseries. |
15 ההפך עלי בלהות תרדף כרוח נדבתי וכעב עברה ישעתי | 15 I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud. |
16 ועתה עלי תשתפך נפשי יאחזוני ימי עני | 16 And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me. |
17 לילה עצמי נקר מעלי וערקי לא ישכבון | 17 In the night my bone is pierced with sorrows: and they that feed upon me, do not sleep. |
18 ברב כח יתחפש לבושי כפי כתנתי יאזרני | 18 With the multitude of them my garment is consumed, and they have girded me about, as with the collar of my coat. |
19 הרני לחמר ואתמשל כעפר ואפר | 19 I am compared to dirt, and am likened to embers and ashes. |
20 אשוע אליך ולא תענני עמדתי ותתבנן בי | 20 I cry to thee, and thou hearest me not: I stand up, and thou dost not regard me. |
21 תהפך לאכזר לי בעצם ידך תשטמני | 21 Thou art changed to be cruel toward me, and in the hardness of thy hand thou art against me. |
22 תשאני אל רוח תרכיבני ותמגגני תשוה | 22 Thou hast lifted me up, and set me as it were upon the wind, and thou hast mightily dashed me. |
23 כי ידעתי מות תשיבני ובית מועד לכל חי | 23 I know that thou wilt deliver me to death, where a house is appointed for every one that liveth. |
24 אך לא בעי ישלח יד אם בפידו להן שוע | 24 But yet thou stretchest not forth thy hand to their consumption: and if they shall fall down thou wilt save. |
25 אם לא בכיתי לקשה יום עגמה נפשי לאביון | 25 I wept heretofore for him that was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor. |
26 כי טוב קויתי ויבא רע ואיחלה לאור ויבא אפל | 26 I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I waited for light, and darkness broke out. |
27 מעי רתחו ולא דמו קדמני ימי עני | 27 My inner parts have boiled without any rest, the days of affliction have prevented me. |
28 קדר הלכתי בלא חמה קמתי בקהל אשוע | 28 I went mourning without indignation; I rose up, and cried in the crowd. |
29 אח הייתי לתנים ורע לבנות יענה | 29 I was the brother of dragons, and companion of ostriches. |
30 עורי שחר מעלי ועצמי חרה מני חרב | 30 My skin is become black upon me, and my bones are dried up with heat. |
31 ויהי לאבל כנרי ועגבי לקול בכים | 31 My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep. |