4. Almighty God has pierced me with arrows,and their poison spreads through my body.God has lined up his terrors against me.
5. A donkey is content when eating grass,and a cow is quiet when eating hay.
6. But who can eat tasteless, unsalted food?What flavour is there in the white of an egg?
7. I have no appetite for food like that,and everything I eat makes me sick.
8. Why won't God give me what I ask?Why won't he answer my prayer?
9. If only he would go ahead and kill me!
10. If I knew he would, I would leap for joy,no matter how great my pain.I know that God is holy;I have never opposed what he commands.
11. What strength have I got to keep on living?Why go on living when I have no hope?
12. Am I made of stone? Is my body bronze?
13. I have no strength left to save myself;there is nowhere I can turn for help.
14. In trouble like this I need loyal friends —whether I've forsaken God or not.
15. But you, my friends, you deceive me like streamsthat go dry when no rain comes.
16. The streams are choked with snow and ice,