The Contrast With the Past

30:24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand

against a broken man52

when he cries for help in his distress.53

30:25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate?54

Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

30:26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came;

when I expected light, then darkness came.

30:27 My heart55 is in turmoil56 unceasingly;57

the days of my affliction confront me.

30:28 I go about blackened,58 but not by the sun;

in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

30:29 I have become a brother to jackals

and a companion of ostriches.59

30:30 My skin has turned dark on me;60

my body61 is hot with fever.62

30:31 My harp is used for63 mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping.