1. I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
2. He has led me and made me walkIn darkness and not in light.
3. Surely He has turned His hand against meTime and time again throughout the day.
4. He has aged my flesh and my skin,And broken my bones.
5. He has besieged meAnd surrounded me with bitterness and woe.
6. He has set me in dark placesLike the dead of long ago.
7. He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;He has made my chain heavy.
8. Even when I cry and shout,He shuts out my prayer.
9. He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;He has made my paths crooked.
10. He has been to me a bear lying in wait,Like a lion in ambush.
11. He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;He has made me desolate.
12. He has bent His bowAnd set me up as a target for the arrow.
13. He has caused the arrows of His quiverTo pierce my loins.
14. I have become the ridicule of all my people—Their taunting song all the day.
15. He has filled me with bitterness,He has made me drink wormwood.
16. He has also broken my teeth with gravel,And covered me with ashes.
17. You have moved my soul far from peace;I have forgotten prosperity.
18. And I said, “My strength and my hopeHave perished from the Lord.”