7 “If I cry out concerning 3wrong, I am not heard.

If I cry aloud, there is no justice.

8 cHe has 4fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass;

And He has set darkness in my paths.

9 dHe has stripped me of my glory,

And taken the crown from my head.

10 He breaks me down on every side,

And I am gone;

My ehope He has uprooted like a tree.

11 He has also kindled His wrath against me,

And fHe counts me as one of His enemies.

12 His troops come together

And build up their road against me;

They encamp all around my tent.

13 “He ghas removed my brothers far from me,

And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

14 My relatives have failed,

And my close friends have forgotten me.

15 Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants,

Count me as a stranger;

I am an alien in their sight.

16 I call my servant, but he gives no answer;

I beg him with my mouth.

17 My breath is offensive to my wife,

And I am 5repulsive to the children of my own body.

18 Even hyoung children despise me;

I arise, and they speak against me.

19 iAll my close friends abhor me,

And those whom I love have turned against me.

20 jMy bone clings to my skin and to my flesh,

And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

21 “Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,

For the hand of God has struck me!