5. If indeed you would exalt yourselves above meand use my humiliation against me,
6. then know that God has wronged meand drawn his net around me.
7. ‘Though I cry, “Violence!” I get no response;though I call for help, there is no justice.
8. He has blocked my way so that I cannot pass;he has shrouded my paths in darkness.
9. He has stripped me of my honourand removed the crown from my head.
10. He tears me down on every side till I am gone;he uproots my hope like a tree.
11. His anger burns against me;he counts me among his enemies.
12. His troops advance in force;they build a siege ramp against meand encamp around my tent.
13. ‘He has alienated my family from me;my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14. My relatives have gone away;my closest friends have forgotten me.
15. My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner;they look upon me as a stranger.
16. I summon my servant, but he does not answer,though I beg him with my own mouth.
17. My breath is offensive to my wife;I am loathsome to my own family.
18. Even the little boys scorn me;when I appear, they ridicule me.
19. All my intimate friends detest me;those I love have turned against me.
20. I am nothing but skin and bones;I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.