9. He has taken away my honorand removed the crown from my head.
10. He beats me down on every side until I am gone;he destroys my hope like a fallen tree.
11. His anger burns against me,and he treats me like an enemy.
12. His armies gather;they prepare to attack me.They camp around my tent.
13. “God has made my brothers my enemies,and my friends have become strangers.
14. My relatives have gone away,and my friends have forgotten me.
15. My guests and my female servants treat me like a stranger;they look at me as if I were a foreigner.
16. I call for my servant, but he does not answer,even when I beg him with my own mouth.
17. My wife can’t stand my breath,and my own family dislikes me.
18. Even the little boys hate meand talk about me when I leave.
19. All my close friends hate me;even those I love have turned against me.
20. I am nothing but skin and bones;I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21. Pity me, my friends, pity me,because the hand of God has hit me.
22. Why do you chase me as God does?Haven’t you hurt me enough?
23. “How I wish my words were written down,written on a scroll.
24. I wish they were carved with an iron pen into lead,or carved into stone forever.
25. I know that my Defender lives,and in the end he will stand upon the earth.
26. Even after my skin has been destroyed,in my flesh I will see God.