16. “And now my soul pours itself out within me;days of suffering take hold of me.
17. Night pierces my bones;my gnawing pains never cease.
18. With great power God grasps my clothing;he binds me like the collar of my tunic.
19. He has flung me into the mud,and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.
20. I cry out to you, but you do not answer me;I stand up, and you only look at me.
21. You have become cruel to me;with the strength of your hand you attack me.
22. You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it;you toss me about in the storm.
23. I know that you are bringing me to death,to the meeting place for all the living.
24. “Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken manwhen he cries for help in his distress.
25. Have I not wept for the unfortunate?Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26. But when I hoped for good, trouble came;when I expected light, then darkness came.
27. My heart is in turmoil unceasingly;the days of my affliction confront me.
28. I go about blackened, but not by the sun;in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.
29. I have become a brother to jackalsand a companion of ostriches.
30. My skin has turned dark on me;my body is hot with fever.
31. My harp is used for mourningand my flute for the sound of weeping.