1
"But now they 1laugh at me, men who are 2younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
2
What could I gain from the strength of their hands, 3men whose 4vigor is gone?
3
Through want and hard hunger they 5gnaw 6the dry ground by night in 7waste and desolation;
4
they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.
5
8They are driven out from human company; they shout after them as after a thief.
6
In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of 9the rocks.
7
Among the bushes they 10bray; under 11the nettles they huddle together.
8
A senseless, a nameless brood, they have been whipped out of the land.
9
"And now I have become their 12song; I am 13a byword to them.
10
They 14abhor me; they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to 15spit at the sight of me.
11
Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.