9. “And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10. They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11. Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
12. On my right the tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me.
13. They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me. ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14. They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15. Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.
16. “And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.
17. Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.
18. In his great power God becomes like clothing to me ; he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19. He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
20. “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21. You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.
22. You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.
23. I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
24. “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.
25. Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?