71 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
71 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 30
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1 But now they mock me,
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men younger than I am,
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whose fathers I would have refused to put
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with my sheep dogs.
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2 What use to me was the strength of their hands?
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Their vigor had left them.
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3 Emaciated from poverty and hunger,
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they gnawed the dry land,
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the desolate wasteland by night.
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4 They plucked mallow among the shrubs,
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and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
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5 They were banished from human society;
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people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
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6 They are living on the slopes of the wadis,
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among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
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7 They bray among the shrubs;
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they huddle beneath the thistles.
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8 Foolish men, without even a name.
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They were forced to leave the land.
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9 Now I am mocked by their songs;
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I have become an object of scorn to them.
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10 They despise me and keep their distance from me;
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they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
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11 Because God has loosened my bowstring and oppressed me,
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they have cast off restraint in my presence.
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12 The rabble rise up at my right;
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they trap my feet
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and construct their siege ramp against me.
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13 They tear up my path;
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they contribute to my destruction,
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without anyone to help them.
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14 They advance as through a gaping breach;
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they keep rolling in through the ruins.
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15 Terrors are turned loose against me;
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they chase my dignity away like the wind,
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and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.
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16 Now my life is poured out before me,
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and days of suffering have seized me.
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17 Night pierces my bones,
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but my gnawing pains never rest.
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18 My clothing is distorted with great force;
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he chokes me by the neck of my garment.
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19 He throws me into the mud,
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and I have become like dust and ashes.
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20 I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me;
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when I stand up, you merely look at me.
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21 You have turned against me with cruelty;
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you harass me with your strong hand.
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22 You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it;
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you scatter me in the storm.
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23 Yes, I know that you will lead me to death—
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the place appointed for all who live.
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24 Yet no one would stretch out his hand
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against a ruined person
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when he cries out to him for help
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because of his distress.
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25 Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?
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Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
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26 But when I hoped for good, evil came;
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when I looked for light, darkness came.
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27 I am churning within and cannot rest;
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days of suffering confront me.
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28 I walk about blackened, but not by the sun.
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I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.
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29 I have become a brother to jackals
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and a companion of ostriches.
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30 My skin blackens and flakes off,
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and my bones burn with fever.
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31 My lyre is used for mourning
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and my flute for the sound of weeping. |