1"My spirit is crushed, and I am near death. The grave is ready to receive me.
2I am surrounded by mockers. I watch how bitterly they taunt me.
3"You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me.
4You have closed their minds to understanding, but do not let them triumph.
5They denounce their companions for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger.
6"God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face.
7My eyes are dim with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self.
8The upright are astonished when they see me. The innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
9The righteous will move onward and forward, and those with pure hearts will become stronger and stronger.
10"As for all of you, come back and try again! But I will not find a wise man among you.
11My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart's desires are broken.
12They say that night is day and day is night; how they pervert the truth!
13I might go to the grave and make my bed in darkness.
14And I might call the grave my father, and the worm my mother and my sister.
15But where then is my hope? Can anyone find it?
16No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We will rest together in the dust!"