130:1 Ay 12:4; Za 119:21“Lakini sasa watu wadogo kwa umri kuniliko wananidhihaki,
watu ambao baba zao ningekataa kwa dharau
kuwaweka pamoja na mbwa wangu wa kulinda kondoo.
2Nguvu za mikono yao zingekuwa na faida gani kwangu,
kwa kuwa nguvu zao zilikuwa zimewaishia?
330:3 Isa 8:21; Ay 24:5; Yer 17:6Wakiwa wamekonda kutokana na kupungukiwa na kwa njaa,
walizurura usiku katika nchi kame iliyo ukiwa.
430:4 Ay 39:6; 1Fal 19:4Katika vichaka walikusanya mimea ya chumvi,
nacho chakula chao kilikuwa mizizi ya mti wa mfagio.
5Walifukuzwa mbali na watu wao,
wakipigiwa kelele kama wevi.
630:6 Isa 2:19; Hos 10:8Walilazimika kuishi katika mikondo ya vijito vilivyokauka,
kwenye majabali na mahandaki.
730:7 Ay 6:5; 39:5-6Kwenye vichaka walilia kama punda,
na walijisongasonga pamoja kwenye vichaka.
830:8 Amu 9:4; Ay 18:18Wao ni watoto wa wapumbavu wenye asili ya ubaya,
waliofukuzwa watoke katika nchi.
930:9 Ay 16:10; 12:4; Za 69:11; Mao 3:14; Ay 16:10; Za 69:11; Ay 12:4; Mao 3:14, 63; Ay 17:6“Nao sasa wana wao wananidhihaki katika nyimbo;
nimekuwa kitu cha dhihaka kwao.
1030:10 Hes 12:14; Mt 26:67Wananichukia sana na kujitenga nami,
wala hawasiti kunitemea mate usoni.
1130:11 Mwa 12:17; Rut 1:21; Ay 41:13; Za 32:9Sasa kwa kuwa Mungu ameilegeza kamba ya upinde wangu na kunitesa,
wamekuwa huru kunitendea waonavyo.
1230:12 Za 109:6; Zek 3:1; Za 140:4-5; Ay 16:10Kuume kwangu kundi linashambulia;
wao huitegea miguu yangu tanzi,
na kunizingira.
1330:13 Isa 3:12; Za 69:26Huizuia njia yangu,
nao hufanikiwa katika kuniletea maafa,
nami sina yeyote wa kunisaidia.
14Wananijia kama watu wapitao katika ufa mpana;
katikati ya magofu huja na kunishambulia.
1530:15 Kut 3:6; Za 55:4-5; Hos 13:3; Ay 3:25Vitisho vimenifunika;
heshima yangu imetoweshwa kama kwa upepo,
salama yangu imetoweka kama wingu.
1630:16 Za 22:14; Isa 53:12“Sasa maisha yangu yamefikia mwisho;
siku za mateso zimenikamata.
17Usiku mifupa yangu inachoma;
maumivu yanayonitafuna hayatulii kamwe.
18Kwa uwezo wake mkuu Mungu huwa kwangu kama nguo;
hushikamana nami kama ukosi wa vazi langu.
1930:19 Za 40:2; Yer 38:6, 22Yeye amenitupa kwenye matope,
nami nimekuwa kama mavumbi na majivu.
2030:20 Ay 19:7; Mao 3:8; Mt 15:23“Ee Bwana, ninakulilia wewe lakini hunijibu;
ninasimama, nawe unanitazama tu.
2130:21 Ay 19:6; Yer 6:23; Isa 9:12; Eze 6:14; Ay 10:3Wewe unanigeukia bila huruma;
unanishambulia kwa nguvu za mkono wako.
2230:22 Ay 27:21; 9:17; Yud 12Unaninyakua na kunipeperusha kwa upepo;
umenirusha huku na huko kwenye dhoruba kali.
2330:23 2Sam 14:14; Ay 3:19; 10:8Ninajua utanileta mpaka kifoni,
mahali ambapo wenye uhai wote wamewekewa.
24“Hakika hakuna yeyote amshambuliaye mhitaji,
anapoomba msaada katika shida yake.
2530:25 Za 35:13-14; Rum 12:15; Yn 11:35Je, sikulia kwa ajili ya wale waliokuwa katika taabu?
Je, nafsi yangu haikusononeka kwa ajili ya maskini?
2630:26 Za 82:5; Yer 8:15Lakini nilipotazamia mema, mabaya yalinijia;
nilipotafuta nuru, ndipo giza lilipokuja.
2730:27 Za 38:8; Mao 2:11Kusukwasukwa ndani yangu kamwe hakutulii;
siku za mateso zinanikabili.
2830:28 Mao 4:8; Za 38:6; Ay 19:7; 24:12Ninazunguka nikiwa nimeungua, lakini si kwa jua;
ninasimama katika kusanyiko nikiomba msaada.
2930:29 Isa 34:13; Yer 9:11; Za 102:6; Mik 1:8Nimekuwa ndugu wa mbweha,
rafiki wa mabundi.
3030:30 Mao 3:4; 4:8; 5:10; Kum 28:35Ngozi yangu imekuwa nyeusi nayo inachunika;
mifupa yangu inaungua kwa homa.
3130:31 Mwa 8:8; Za 137:2Kinubi changu kimegeuka kuwa maombolezo,
nayo filimbi yangu imekuwa sauti ya kilio.
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.
