哀叹今日的痛苦
1“但如今，比我年少的人竟嘲笑我，
他们的父亲曾被我鄙视，
连我的牧羊犬都不如。
2他们精力衰竭，
对我有何益处？
3他们贫穷饥饿，瘦弱不堪，
夜间在干旱荒凉之地啃食。
4他们在草丛中拔咸草充饥，
以罗腾树根为食。
5他们被赶离人群，
像贼一样被喝斥。
6他们只好住在荒谷，
在地洞和岩穴栖身；
7在杂草间嚎叫如兽，
在树丛中蜷缩一团。
8他们是愚昧无名之辈，
被人用鞭子赶出境外。
9“如今，他们竟唱歌讽刺我，
我成了他们的笑柄。
10他们厌恶我，不愿靠近我，
任意朝我脸上吐唾沫。
11因为上帝苦待我，使我毫无力量，
他们才在我面前肆无忌惮。
12这些无赖从右边攻击我，
迫使我逃亡，
他们展开攻势要毁灭我。
13他们截断我的路，
想方设法害我，无人相助。
14他们冲破防线，
从废墟中向我袭来。
15恐惧笼罩着我，
我的尊荣随风而去，
我的荣华如云消散。
16“如今我的生命将尽，
痛苦的日子抓住我。
17夜间我的骨头刺痛，
如被啃噬，无休无止。
18上帝猛力抓住我的衣服，
紧紧地揪住我的衣领。
19祂把我扔进淤泥，
使我如尘埃灰烬。
20“上帝啊！我向你呼求，你不回应；
我站起来，你也不理睬。
21你变得对我残酷无情，
用你大能的手迫害我，
22把我提到风中，让我被风吹走，
被暴风抛来抛去。
23我知道你要带我去死亡之地，
那是你为众生所定的归宿。
24“诚然，不幸的人在困境中呼救，
无人会伸手加害他。
25难道我不曾为受苦的人哭泣，
我的心不曾为穷困者悲伤吗？
26我盼望幸福，来的却是灾祸；
我期待光明，来的却是黑暗。
27我心里一直烦乱不安，
苦难的日子迎面袭来。
28我皮肤发黑，不是因为日晒，
我在会众中站起来呼救。
29我成了豺狼的兄弟，
驼鸟的伙伴。
30我的皮肤发黑、脱落，
我的骨头如被烤焦。
31我的琴唱出哀乐，
我的箫奏出悲鸣。
1‘But now they mock me,
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.
2Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigour had gone from them?
3Haggard from want and hunger,
they roamed30:3 Or gnawed the parched land
in desolate wastelands at night.
4In the brush they gathered salt herbs,
and their food30:4 Or fuel was the root of the broom bush.
5They were banished from human society,
shouted at as if they were thieves.
6They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7They brayed among the bushes
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8A base and nameless brood,
they were driven out of the land.
9‘And now those young men mock me in song;
I have become a byword among them.
10They detest me and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,
they throw off restraint in my presence.
12On my right the tribe30:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. attacks;
they lay snares for my feet,
they build their siege ramps against me.
13They break up my road;
they succeed in destroying me.
“No-one can help him,” they say.
14They advance as through a gaping breach;
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15Terrors overwhelm me;
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.
16‘And now my life ebbs away;
days of suffering grip me.
17Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.
18In his great power God becomes like clothing to me30:18 Hebrew; Septuagint power he grasps my clothing;
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19He throws me into the mud,
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
20‘I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21You turn on me ruthlessly;
with the might of your hand you attack me.
22You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;
you toss me about in the storm.
23I know you will bring me down to death,
to the place appointed for all the living.
24‘Surely no-one lays a hand on a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.
25Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
26Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.
27The churning inside me never stops;
days of suffering confront me.
28I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29I have become a brother of jackals,
a companion of owls.
30My skin grows black and peels;
my body burns with fever.
31My lyre is tuned to mourning,
and my pipe to the sound of wailing.
