1 »¡Ahora resulta que soy
la burla de unos chiquillos!
¡Yo ni a sus padres les confiaría
el trabajo de mis perros ovejeros!
2 ¡Con ellos como empleados,
me hubiera quedado pobre!
3 ¡Toda la noche la pasan
en los lugares más apartados,
sufriendo de hambre y dolor!
4 ¡Andan entre los matorrales,
juntando hierbas amargas
y comiendo solo raíces!
5 Nadie en el pueblo los quiere,
pues los acusan de ladrones.
6 Por eso tienen que vivir
en el lecho de arroyos secos,
en cuevas y entre las rocas;
7 andan entre los matorrales,
rebuznando como burros.
8 Son gente de mala fama;
¡por eso los echaron del país!
9 »¡Ahora resulta que soy
la burla de esos chiquillos!
10 ¡Me escupen en la cara,
y con asco se apartan de mí!
11 Ahora que Dios me humilló,
y me encuentro indefenso,
descaradamente me ofenden.
12 Estos bandidos me atacan
por el lado derecho;
me rodean como un ejército,
y me hacen retroceder.
13 Sin ayuda de nadie
me cierran el paso,
pues me quieren destruir.
14 Me atacan como un ejército
cuando ha conquistado una ciudad
y avanza entre los escombros.
15 Estoy temblando de miedo,
mi dignidad se va perdiendo;
he perdido la esperanza de triunfar.
16 »Ya la vida se me escapa;
los días de aflicción me aplastan.
17 No tiene fin el dolor
que sufro por las noches;
18 me oprime y me ahoga,
como soga al cuello;
19 me convierte en ceniza
y me deja caer en el fango.
20 »Dios mío, yo te llamo,
pero tú no me respondes;
me presento ante ti,
y tú apenas me miras.
21 Eres muy cruel conmigo;
me golpeas con tu brazo poderoso,
22 me levantas con el viento,
y me lanzas a la tormenta,
23 y un día me arrojarás a la tumba,
que es nuestro destino final.
24 »Yo nunca le negué ayuda
a quien me la pidió.
25 Al contrario,
he llorado con los que sufren,
y me he dolido con los pobres.
26 Pero vinieron los días malos
cuando esperaba mejores tiempos;
llegaron los días de sombras
cuando esperaba la luz.
27 Todo el tiempo estoy inquieto;
me enfrento a días de aflicción.
28 Estoy triste, como un día nublado,
pues pido ayuda a mi gente
y los jefes no me la dan.
29 Las lechuzas y los chacales
son mis amigos y mis hermanos.
30 La piel se me pudre
y se me cae a pedazos;
estoy ardiendo en fiebre.
31 De mi arpa y de mi flauta
brotan notas de tristeza.
1 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. 2 Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished? 3 For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. 4 Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat. 5 They were driven forth from among men , (they cried after them as after a thief;) 6 To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks. 7 Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together. 8 They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth. 9 And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. 10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face. 11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me. 12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction. 13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper. 14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me .
15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. 16 And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. 17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest. 18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. 19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes. 20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not . 21 Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. 22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it , and dissolvest my substance. 23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. 24 Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction. 25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? 26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness. 27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. 28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. 29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. 30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. 31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.