² ‘I have heard all these things before.
You are not making my troubles any better.
    You are making them worse!
³ Please stop speaking useless words.
    Why do you talk to me like that?
⁴ If you were suffering like I am,
    I could say the same things to you.
I could speak for a long time
    about the wrong things that you have done.
I could shake my head
    and laugh at you.
⁵ But, instead, I would help you to be strong.
    I would say things to comfort you.

⁶ But now, if I speak,
    my pain does not become any better.
If I stop speaking,
    my pain continues to be there.
⁷ God, you have made me very weak.
    You have destroyed my family.
⁸ You have taken hold of me.
Because of my troubles,
    people think that I am guilty.
Because my body is so thin,
    people think that I have done bad things.
⁹ God attacks me and he punishes me because he is angry.
    He shows his anger like a wild animal.
He has become my enemy.
¹⁰ People insult me and they laugh at me.
    They hit me on my face.
They all join together to attack me.
¹¹ God has allowed evil men to take hold of me.
    He has put me under the power of wicked men.
¹² I was living in peace,
    but then God destroyed me.
He took hold of my neck
    and he shook me to pieces.
He decided to shoot his arrows at me.
¹³ His arrows come from all around me.
    They go deep into my body
    and my blood pours out on the ground.
But God still does not feel sorry for me.
¹⁴ He attacks me again and again.
    He rushes to attack me like a strong fighter.
¹⁵ I have used sackcloth to make my clothes.^[b]
I am no longer proud of my strength,
    and I sit in the dust.
¹⁶ I have cried so much that my face is red.
    There are dark circles around my eyes.
¹⁷ But I have not been cruel.
    And when I pray, I speak honestly to God.

¹⁸ The earth should not hide my blood!
    People should remember how I have suffered.
    They should not forget that I asked for justice.
¹⁹ But even now, I know that I have a friend in heaven.
    He knows that I am not guilty.
    He speaks on my behalf.
²⁰ My friends have turned against me.
    I cry with many tears as I pray to God.
²¹ I need someone to speak to God on my behalf.
He should ask God not to punish me,
    as someone might try to help his friends.

²² I only have a few more years to live.
I will die and I will never again return to this earth.