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⁷But now He hath made me weary;

Thou hast made desolate all my company.

⁸And Thou hast shrivelled me up, which is a witness against me;

And my leanness riseth up against me, it testifieth to my face.

⁹He hath torn me in His wrath, and hated me;

He hath gnashed upon me with His teeth;

Mine adversary sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

¹⁰They have gaped upon me with their mouth;

They have smitten me upon the cheek scornfully;

They gather themselves together against me.

¹¹God delivereth me to the ungodly,

And casteth me into the hands of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, and He broke me asunder;

Yea, He hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces;

He hath also set me up for His mark.

¹³His archers compass me round about,

He cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare;

He poureth out my gall upon the ground.

¹⁴He breaketh me with breach upon breach;

He runneth upon me like a giant.

¹⁵I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin,

And have laid my horn in the dust.

¹⁶My face is reddened with weeping,

And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

¹⁷Although there is no violence in my hands,

And my prayer is pure.

¹⁸O earth, cover not thou my blood,

And let my cry have no resting-place.

¹⁹Even now, behold, my Witness is in heaven,

And He that testifieth of me is on high.

²⁰Mine inward thoughts are my intercessors,

Mine eye poureth out tears unto God;

²¹That He would set aright a man contending with God,

As a son of man setteth aright his neighbour!

²²For the years that are few are coming on,

And I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

17 My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct,

The grave is ready for me.

²Surely there are mockers with me,

And mine eye abideth in their provocation.

³Give now a pledge, be surety for me with Thyself;

Who else is there that will strike hands with me?

⁴For Thou hast hid their heart from understanding;

Therefore shalt Thou not exalt them.

⁵He that denounceth his friends for the sake of flattery,

Even the eyes of his children shall fail.

 

⁶He hath made me also a byword of the people;

And I am become one in whose face they spit.

⁷Mine eye also is dimmed by reason of vexation,

And all my members are as a shadow.

⁸Upright men are astonished at this,

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