11. Because God has loosened my bowstring and oppressed me,they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12. The rabble rise up at my right;they trap my feetand construct their siege ramp against me.
13. They tear up my path;they contribute to my destruction, without anyone to help them.
14. They advance as through a gaping breach;they keep rolling in through the ruins.
15. Terrors are turned loose against me;they chase my dignity away like the wind,and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.
16. Now my life is poured out before my eyes,and days of suffering have seized me.
17. Night pierces my bones,but my gnawing pains never rest.
18. My clothing is distorted with great force;He chokes me by the neck of my garment.
19. He throws me into the mud,and I have become like dust and ashes.
20. I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; when I stand up, You merely look at me.
21. You have turned against me with cruelty;You harass me with Your strong hand.
22. You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it;You scatter me in the storm.
23. Yes, I know that You will lead me to death —the place appointed for all who live.
24. Yet no one would stretch out his handagainst a ruined man when he cries out to him for helpbecause of his distress.
25. Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
26. But when I hoped for good, evil came;when I looked for light, darkness came.
27. I am churning within and cannot rest;days of suffering confront me.
28. I walk about blackened, but not by the sun. I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.
29. I have become a brother to jackalsand a companion of ostriches.